Restless Peace
by Gaarafan12
Summary: The ninja world is enjoying it's first real era of peace, but the losses of war weigh on the trust the villages have with one another. Gaara must find a way to sustain the friendships between his and Naruto's villages. And along the way a new threat wishes nothing more than to destroy this new found peace at all costs, and anyone who defends it.
1. Chapter 1

Restless Peace-Chapter 1

It has been four months since the war ended, each country and village are recovering quickly, too quickly. The threat that had made us allies is gone, a victory won. But now, old grudges are coming to light in a new way, even my own shinobi whisper complaints against the other nations. This peace that united us for such a moment is faltering. It is everything I can do to keep up the trust between even our closest friends at Konoha.

My name is Gaara, Kazakage of the Village hidden in the Sand. I have endured what most would say is unbearable and even suffered death. Enduring these things would have been impossible without my comrades, namely one in particular. Naruto Uzumaki, Jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village, and the last of the Jinchuriki. I had once also been labeled Jinchuriki, a name given to those who have been made weapons for their country since the time of their birth. We had no choice in the matter, we both suffered the same fate, and I would have been lost, had I never met Naruto. This bond between him and I have created a mutual trust between our villages but now, fresh from the losses of war. Even this trust between our homes threatens to crumble.

This is why my team and I are traveling to his home, to meet with Konoha's Hokage. A normal ninja team consists of a captain and three ninja, but my team is made up of myself and my two siblings, Temari and Konkuro. We once had a sensei that completed our team, but he was never active with our missions, and fell away from us quickly. We have never taken on another team member, because no one has ever fallen into sync with us, we know each other too well anyone who tries to join us was never able to be helpful. My advisors tell me it is too dangerous for me to travel with even just one team much less an incomplete one. But this is one area in which I do not take their advice. My siblings and I are more than capable of traveling alone and prefer it to having a slow procession of unnecessary guards.

The journey to the village is somewhat uneventful. We encounter two groups of rouge ninja, one has no idea who we are, looking to gain nothing more than any valuables we may have had. They are easily subdued and we move on. The next is a bit more prepared, they know who I am and in turn know who Temari and Konkuro are. They prepare a slightly more strategic approach, but my team reacts quickly and takes out the enemy.

"Man you would think they would like, team up or something, at least give us a challenge!" Konkuro mocks the group's efforts. "I haven't even worked up a sweat yet!"

"Well then maybe you should put a little more effort into running and work up a sweat there!" Temari rebukes, "Gaara and I would already be there if we didn't have to move at your pace!" Her concentrated expression she wears while traveling falls for a moment to grin at her remark and the look of contempt Konkuro returns.

Temari is the oldest of us; she has grown into a strong kunochi recently. She was always strong in terms of battle, but now she is strong mentally. Ever since I was taken by the Akatsuki, a group hunting the Jinchuuriki, and in turn killed, she has become wiser and stronger. I can always turn to her; she has led us as a family and led troops into battle. Her ever present looks of concentration, tell me her senses are on alert, scanning for threats, always learning. But she is never too far gone to ignore Konkuro and his antics.

Konkuro is Konkuro, he is older than me as well, and has been a good brother and teammate. He has helped me become who I am today, by warning me of people and always telling me the truth. He never sugar coats anything to spare feelings. This is a quality I greatly respect, honesty. But this quality also drives Temari insane half the time, and is usually what begins their arguments.

"You've got to be kidding me! Gaara can freakin fly, so yeah, he could out run me but you? Please! Don't make me laugh!" Konkuro glared at our sister as we moved otherwise silently through the trees toward our destination.

"What do you mean I couldn't out run you! You're about as quick as a snail compared to me!" Temari turned and jumped backward so to face Konkuro who was running behind her. This was common for a lot of ninja, our senses have been sharpened enough to hear anyone running in front of you and know where to land your feet even without looking. Temari has excellent senses so this is not problem for her, but Konkuro can't, and that's exactly why Temari did so.

Konkuro doesn't disappoint, his face grew red with frustration and anger at this gesture and he opened his mouth to yell out at her. I knew what would follow and didn't want to hear it.

"Enough, we are close." This and a quick look at Temari shut them both up and Temari turned back around with a smirk. She had won this round, which also meant Konkuro had lost which put him in a bad mood all the way to the village.

Not long ago they both would have stopped out of fear of me, what I might have done. But now they did what I asked because they knew it annoyed me and cared about my feelings, today was one of the rare occasions when they both complied with my request, even though we were alone. When we weren't in the village where I was in charge, things were very normal for us. No 'yes sir' or other recognition of authority, just a family traveling together. I liked these times, away from the stress of the responsibility I carried.

We were all anxious to get to the village hidden in the Leaves. We all loved being here and hadn't been since before the war. I had sent forces to help the village after it was attacked, but the Hokage that had been instated following Lady Tsunade's coma, sent them all back immediately. I would have gone myself but I needed to protect my village more than ever, and I trusted that Naruto would take care of things.

Since the war Naruto has visited my village a couple of times, personally bringing non-urgent messages instead of sending them by messenger bird just to come. He told us the village was making tremendous progress and things were pretty much back to normal. During his visits we started to notice the looks of distrust in the eyes of our people. Naruto was well known here and before the war was greeted like one of our own. The war had brought much suffering, through the loss of life. Now that the fighting was over the loss of comrades were blamed on those they fell among, ninja from other villages. If a Sand ninja fell while fighting with a Leaf ninja, those in the sand blamed the ninja from the leaf, saying they could have saved him. This wasn't true of course, but those who had never known war, looked for reasoning, why so many had died. And blame began to fall on others from different villages. I did my best to defuse these thoughts from the beginning. But whispers of anger and loss passed and the distrust grew. Even to the Leaf ninja who was our closest ally.

I would do whatever necessary to maintain this bond with them, which is why we are going to the Leaf now. I will speak with the Hokage to see if they are facing the same problem and find a common resolve.

My question is almost immediately answered. We are almost to the village when Temari speaks, "There's someone up a head."

It would be unlikely for a rouge ninja to be so close to a village, so we all have a good idea of who it is. This makes a grin grow on Konkuro's face, and he pushes himself ahead of our group. Temari stifles a grin, Konkuro and Naruto had become good friends as well. Both always pulling pranks and getting on each other's nerves. Naruto's ever growing work ethic, and Konkuro's ever dwindling one made for clashing personalities that results in humorous arguments.

As we grow closer, we see the unmistakable orange hyperactive ninja sleeping in a tree. This is the perfect opportunity for Konkuro who is quite a way ahead of us now. Konkuro lands lightly on the tree Naruto is perched in and moved silently in front of him. Of course Naruto's senses are great and his body reacts to Konkuro's presence. He wakes up immediately and Konkuro screams in his face. Naruto returns the scream and loses his balance and falls to the ground. This of course is exactly what Konkuro has hoped for and he doubles over in laughter.

Temari and I land on the ground next to the screaming Naruto.

"What was that for you jerk? Here I was having a perfectly nice nap, and I wake up and some freak in purple makeup is all in my face!" This continues until Konkuro joins us on the ground whipping a pretend tear from his face while laughing.

"Oh that was perfect." Konkuro remarks at Naruto's fall.

"Naruto what are you doing here?" Temari asks, diffusing his anger at Konkuro.

Turning his attention to Temari and I, Naruto's expression changes to his normal goofy grin and he throws his arms behind his head. "I'm here to be your escort into the village!"

"Escort?" Temari asks confused. We have visited the village numerous times before the war and never required an escort before. My earlier question was answered by Naruto; Konoha was facing the same unrest my village was. Of course no one in Konoha would openly speak against us but the villagers would be uneasy. But Naruto was trusted so explicitly in his village, if he was with us no one would question us.

"I don't know, Granny Tsunade just told me you were coming and told me to wait for you out here. It was pretty boring so I trained for a while, but you guys took so long I finally just took a nap." Naruto answered unconcerned.

Naruto and I lead the group, running the rest of the distance to the village gate. If anyone I had met would be a candidate to complete my team, it would be Naruto, he works well with us and quickly falls into synch with our normal pace. Or as in synch as Naruto could be, as great of ninja Naruto is, if the time came that he felt it necessary, he would abandon his team's goal to protect his teammates. This was still a bit strange to me, but it's the way Naruto has always been.

We reach the village minutes later and are greeted by a girl I have never met. She appears to be a bit younger than Naruto and I, maybe by one year. She has brown shoulder length hair and blue eyes and wore her ninja headband on her upper arm. She is dressed in traditional ninja wear, light clothes and a vest jacket. I can tell she is shy by nature but genuinely excited to see our group. She wears a kind smile but seems tired.

"Guys this is Hannah, your other escort." Naruto explained, Hannah's smile grew at her introduction.

"Nice to meet you!" Hannah responded regarding each of us. "Naruto everything over there is ready for them, and Lady Tsunade got caught in a meeting with the elders it might be a while until the Kazakage can see her." She spoke to Naruto but then turned her attention to me, "I'm very sorry for the inconvenience." She bowed her head slightly in respect as Naruto started laughing.

"Right, inconvenience. Well let's get going then so you can get settled in. How long do you guys get to stay until the Sand village falls apart without you Gaara?"

"Perhaps a couple of days, my business with the Hokage shouldn't take too long." I answer. Naruto instantly closes the distance between us and puts his arm over my shoulder and mischievously asks.

"Sooo what are you and Granny meeting about anyway? Huh? Huh? Is something exciting going on? Ooh, is Temari and Shikamaru getting married?" Naruto hardly has time to let the words out of his mouth before Temari hits him hard with the end of her enormous unfolded fan. Konkuro laughs again staring at Naruto. But Hannah isn't looking at Naruto, her eyes are rested on Temari and her fan, the look in her eyes tells me that she is fascinated by my sister. And that's when I notice Hannah's weapon of choice. Hanging loosely from her kuni belt are two sister fans much smaller than Temari's. Hannah must also have wind nature chakra like Temari and Naruto. Hannah notices my eyes on her and quickly looks away from my sister and laughs with Konkuro at Naruto.

"Oww what was that for?" Naruto complains.

"Gaara's meeting with the Hokage is none of your business!" Temari yells back.

"Oh I'm sure that's all you were upset about, it had nothing to do with his comment about you and your boyfriend…" Konkuro pushes Temari's buttons just too far, and a look he and I know well rises in Temari. That's when Konkuro decides it's time to run.

"Oh come on guys don't make this escort thing a pain! Wait up!" Naruto screams running after my siblings.

"Haha, your brother reminds me of Naruto in a way." Hannah laughs.

"Yes they are very similar in ways." I reply honestly.

"Well if you want I'll show you where you'll be staying while you're here and if you ever visit again." Hannah said.

"Yes thank you." I say as Hannah and I turn to walk into the village. "Hannah you said 'and if you ever visit again' what do you mean by that?"

Hannah and I walked through the newly rebuilt village, Naruto had told the truth, things were returning to normal. The shops are open, while civilians and ninja alike pass us through the streets. Several children run in-between Hannah and I as we continue on our way while Hannah explains "Well while the village was being rebuilt Naruto suggested that in order to show our support of a continued alliances between the villages, we build a house for any visiting Kage and their teams. I'm pretty sure he was mainly thinking of you and your team though. Everyone considered it a good idea and the house was built neighboring the Hokage's mansion. Inconsequently your house is also neighboring Naruto!" Hannah finished carrying the same smile she wore when she met him at the gate. I was beginning to believe she wore this smile most of the time.

"How do you mean inconsequently?" I ask.

"Well there was also building built across from the Hokage's mansion to house all of the ninja without families, there is no need for us to have large homes that take up space in the village when we are here only half the time. And we decided we would rather be near the Hokage in case of crisis than be strewn throughout the village in homes." She explains.

"Us?" I ask questioningly.

"Yes I live there too, I'm like Naruto, my parents died soon after I was born and I have no memories of them." She told her story so casually and without any sound of regret. I could tell Hannah was strong, made strong by her life circumstances. I knew how it felt to grow up alone.

Hannah's expression told that she needed no one to say they were sorry for her life. The confidence she wore, I wasn't sure if it was real, but if it wasn't I admired her for faking it. I knew we were getting close as what could only be the Hokage's mansion rose above the village buildings. It looked almost identical to the old one he knew, just new and more polished.

Hannah led us right in front of the Hokage's office and into the building facing it on the other side of the street. It was a large house with a beautiful lawn and ornate woodwork. It was three stories high and the top floor had a large window in the center about half the length of the house.

"Here we are!" Hannah chimed as she walked down the path to the house. She entered the house and moved about the obviously familiar layout giving me the tour. The inside was just as impressive as the outside with fancy furniture and large windows covering the back wall showing off the beauty of the backyard. It was equally beautiful as it was functional, I immediately knew Naruto must have had a part in designing it. There was large training areas connected to the yard beside ours that must have been where he and the other ninja would live.

"Well this is floor is the kitchen and lounging room, the second floor is for your team there are three rooms so Naruto will probably stay in it while you are here. And the third floor is your room." At her words she leads us up the stairs past the hallway that would surely lead to Temari and Konkuro's rooms and into a small area with a door into the third floor. After going through the door we entered a large office area, the large window I had noticed from outside was at the back of a large desk and faced the Hokage's mansion. There were numerous couches that made up the room, but the room's most surprising feature was the large paintings and pictures of my village that lined the walls. The room was almost as nice as my quarters at home. Hannah had been right; this house may have been meant to house any Kage, but it had been designed for my team. This was all ridiculously unnecessary, but I was grateful.

"It's wonderful thank you Hannah." Hannah's smile grew at my thanks, as she turned for the door.

"Well I'll let you get settled in; your bedroom is through those doors." Hannah pointed to a pair of large double doors just to the right of the desk. "If you need anything or want to go anywhere, I'll be downstairs." And with that Hannah closed the door and left me in my oversized office to wait for the Hokage.


	2. Chapter 2

Restless Peace—Chapter 2

Not long after Hannah left, I headed downstairs just as Naruto and my siblings entered the house.

"Oh Yeah! This is what I'm talkin about!" Konkuro exclaimed as he took in our surroundings. Hannah stood up from her spot on the couch and walked up to Naruto.

"I'm going to go check on the Hokage's meetings status. Will you stay with them for a while?"

"Yeah sure, somehow I think I can bear being trapped here with them." Naruto laughed as he watched Konkuro inspect the fridge.

"Well I guess this will do…" Temari tried to not to show her happiness like Konkuro.

"How long are we staying again?" Temari directed her question to me.

"A couple of days." I answered consistently.

"I say a couple of weeks." Konkuro said giving his opinion as always.

Hannah laughed before saying goodbye and heading back out the door.

I walked to face the back windows and Naruto moved to stand beside me. "This is unnecessary Naruto." I said.

"I know, but I'm not all to blame." He chuckled as he continued. "I just suggested we build you guys, I mean build a Kage house. Then others started standing up and saying it was a waste, that we should focus on other things, then Hannah stood up and said nothing was more important than securing friendships and trust with the other nations; never before had a blatant physical structure been built with this in mind. After she spoke more and more agreed to the idea. Then the girls got in charge and this is what resulted." He held his arms out to regard the house as he spoke. "Luckily my idea of a training area was admitted into the plans otherwise the place would have been worthless!" He laughed again.

"Hannah spoke in our favor? Who is she?" I asked him. The moment I did Naruto's face fell slightly.

"Well Hannah and I grew up in the same orphanage; she is a year younger than us. She has always been kind, even when we were young she tried to talk to me as much as she could." Naruto chuckled despite the hard memories of his past. "Of course the orphanage workers tried to prevent this as much as possible, worried I might, well you know." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Once she got into the academy she learned pretty well, we didn't see each other much but she always had that smile for me. She has always had a hard time getting into her own groove to fight though, or at least that's what Iruka sensei has told me. She has wind nature chakra like me and she fights or tries to fight with twin fans her parents left her. But her sensei couldn't teach her how to use them and so she just fights using normal kuni and small jutsu. I'll see her at the training grounds often though; she gets up real early and tries desperately to teach herself how to use those fans. But learning on your own just isn't that easy. I feel bad for her, even tried to give her some tips sometime, but I don't know how to use them either. She doesn't give up though; it's almost like, in her mind if she can master using those fans she will make her parents proud. She passed the Chunin exams while I was gone training and was finally on her way. Until the war, all of her teammates were killed, leaving her only family in the world gone. She has been strong though, helping rebuild the village and even watching the kids from our old home sometimes. She is a good friend. There were a couple of groups that really didn't like you guys coming, and Hannah defended you and all the other villages. People argued that she should blame the other villages more than anyone after losing her team. But she said that they would have wanted us to maintain our friendships and fight to keep them. "

Naruto finished talking just as Konkuro barreled down the stairs fleeing from Temari again, he pushed his way in between Naruto and I out into the back lawn screaming: "I didn't mean it sis calm down! You're totally overreacting!"

"Guys I am not chasing you all over town again, no one is to leave this house until Hannah gets back, cause I'm sticking with Gaara from now on!" The rest of Naruto's words faded in the distance as he chased my family throughout the lawn. Then Temari swung her fan and sent Konkuro flying into a tree. And with that motion I knew I had one other request of the Hokage.

Soon after Temari is satisfied she has punished Konkuro adequately, and Naruto who somehow found himself at the mercy of her fury; they all reenter the house. I take Temari aside and we head up to my office. We both sit down, me behind my desk and she directly across from me in one of the two chairs facing the desk and looking out the windows.

"Temari what do you think of this friend of Naruto's Hannah?" I ask peering over my folded hands leaning over the desk.

"Uh well she seems nice enough, why do you ask?" My sister replies confused. I tell her Hannah's story and she listens intensively. "So you want me to help her with those fans of hers?" She asks already at my reasoning.

"Yes, as soon as she saw your fan, I could tell she was intrigued. Teach her the basics, if what Naruto told me is true, her work ethic will take her from there.

"Sounds easy enough, as long as Konkuro leaves us alone I'll be fine," she chuckles as she contemplates the idea, "It'll be like a vacation."

The next few days followed a certain routine, I would go with Naruto to speak with the Hokage; while Temari stayed behind and worked long hours with Hannah teaching her the basics of combining their wind natured chakra and their fans. It was a bit different with Temari's large one and Hannah's two small ones. Hannah's attacks ranged from mid distance to short distance while Temari's have always been long range. My sister reported to Naruto and I that Hannah never wanted breaks; and after Temari would come in for the night she was pretty sure she would head out to the training grounds to go over what they had practice that day. Temari had never had such a dedicated student that would put up with her difficult regimens, and it impressed her to no end.

On the last day we stayed in the Leaf village, I felt confident that the Hokage had laid the groundwork for Konoha to maintain its trust in our alliances. And I had a pretty good idea of how to maintain my villages trust in them. I told Naruto that I needed to speak with the Hokage once again before we left, and we left to the large building where she resided.

"Lord Kazakage!" Shizune, the Hokage's student, assistant, and friend met us in the hall. "I thought you and Lady Tsunade had finished your meetings?" She asked.

"Yes, if the Hokage would have me, I wish to discuss one last matter with her." I responded. Shizune smiled at Naruto.

"Oh I know for a fact she wouldn't mind! Today she is supposed to be doing a week's worth of paperwork she has neglected!"

"That's just like Granny! I would be on your toes Gaara! She's likely to throw something at anyone who comes in if she thinks you're bringing more paperwork!" Naruto spoke with a laugh that could only mean it had happened to him before.

Shizune led us both down the familiar hall back to the Hokage's office and knocked on the door.

"Shizune if that's you bringing me more work I swear I'm gonna quit!" The voice of the Hokage was filled with frustration and exhaustion. He couldn't blame her, he knew exactly how much paperwork came with the position of Kage.

Naruto moved past Shizune who was giving an embarrassed smile, "It's about time granny, I'm ready to take over for you at a moment's notice!" Naruto threw his arms behind his head and gave his leader that goofy grin that we all know him for.

"Yeah right Naruto, what do you want! I'm busy here!" At that moment I followed Naruto into the large office, "Ah Gaara, what can I do for you?" Tsunade shot a look at her student for not warning her that I was here.

"I apologize for coming unannounced, but I have another matter I wish to discuss with you." I begin.

"And what matter would that be?"

"The Chunin, Hannah who has served as an escort for my family this week; Temari has been teaching her this week and Hannah has responded with great promise. Naruto tells me she has no family here nor a ninja team."

"That's right." Tsunade prompted me to continue.

"With your consent I wish to ask Hannah if she would like to return with us to the land of winds to train under Temari until we return next."

This took the Hokage by surprise, Naruto smiled. "And what has brought this on?" the Hokage asked.

"I simply believe it would benefit her to spend more time with Temari; not only that it, would show my trust in the Leaf's ninja by her presence in our home. I would not send her on missions. She would stay with Temari under her care as her student inside the village. No harm will come to her."

The Hokage leaned on her arms deep in thought, and right on cue Naruto had to break the silence… "That's a great idea! Hannah loves Temari and Konkuro and she would learn so much, no one in the leaf knows how to handle a fan like Temari! Great plan Gaara!" Naruto was grinning ear to ear as he patted me on the shoulder, Tsunade on the other hand did indeed throw a book at Naruto's head which he barely dodged by ducking, inadvertently bringing me down with him. My sand knocked him off and I quickly recovered ignoring his presence and bringing the Hokage's attention back to me. You could practically see the steam coming from her face.

She composed herself then addressed me, "I see no problem with this, if Hannah wishes to go. But if she does I will expect monthly reports on her progress to make sure her presence is still productive. Also, I would like prior knowledge if you take her anywhere with your team, I want to know where my ninja are. Understood?" She finished with a smile; something told me she knew this would be good for Hannah.

"Understood, that is all I wished to discuss, if you are finished I believe my team and I will return home." I said as she stood.

"Of course, I hope you have a safe journey, Naruto and Kakashi will escort you to our border." The Hokage said.

"Thank you for all your hospitality, Lady Hokage." I turned to leave and a grumbling Naruto followed. As we left I could hear the Hokage speaking to her student.

"All right, I guess it's time for lunch." "Oh no milady, you've got way too much to do, if you finish that stack I'll bring you some lunch." "Have you forgotten who I am? I'm your Hokage!" "Ahhh!" I hear as a large thump follows.

"She's got a real bad temper she does…" Naruto says rubbing the part of his head he hit when my sand threw him into the wall.

"Maybe if you didn't set her off so often?" I offer as we walk across the street to our house. "Naruto, the village would have made you a house just like this one? Why are you living in the building with all the ninja?" I ask genuinely curious.

"I don't need a house like that! Hopefully I'll be on super important missions most of the time and besides!" Naruto stops and points at the Hokage's mansion. "The next house I live in will be that one!"

We continue walking the short distance to our temporary home, and I see Temari and Hannah out the back windows hard at work yet again. Konkuro, yet again, is asleep on the couch with remnants of stale food surrounding him and a movie playing on the TV long forgotten. I send my sand to roll him off the couch onto the plush carpet which wakes him with a start. Naruto curls over in laughter at my brother's murderous expression. "We are leaving." I say simply.

I move through the house to the back door ignoring the profanities being screamed at my back and then directed at Naruto. Naruto yells after me, "Talkin to me about not setting people off!"

This almost brings a smile to my face. I close the door behind me and escape to the peace of the outdoors. I follow the path lined with beautiful flowers grown in sand, some which are familiar to me from home others I have never seen. As I reach the end of the path and walk across the short trimmed grass to where my sister and Hannah are training they both stop to great me.

"Gaara, were you able to meet with the Hokage?" Temari and I had discussed Hannah returning with us last night and she had accepted the idea without hesitation. She loved Hannah and hoped she said she would come with us. We didn't want to ask Hannah before the Hokage in case Tsunade rejected the idea. Hannah gave another small bow of her head in respect as she greeted me. "Lord Kazakage." The kind smile I had guessed was a great part of her normal expression lined her face for the millionth time in the days I had spent in her company. Temari spoke quickly. 

"Hannah we have something to ask you." Hannah responded to Temari's statement with a small look of confusion.

"Hannah, I have spoken with the Lady Hokage, and she has agreed that if it be your wish that you may return with us to the Land of Winds to train under Temari until we return." Hannah did not react immediately; Temari and I could see the information passing through her mind. She turned to Temari.

"Are you serious? You, you would take me with you to train?" Hannah looked completely caught off guard, and to my surprise, a tear threatened to escape the corner of her eye.

"Yes we're serious." Temari responded. Just as the word yes formed on my sister's lips Hannah leapt at her and embraced her in a hug. This time I didn't fight the smile that came forward. The most surprising part of it all happened next, Temari hugged her back. I think Temari thought of Hannah as a younger sister she always wished she had. Behind me I could hear Konkuro and Naruto chuckling and turned to see them watching the scene. Apparently Naruto had told Konkuro what we were talking about.

Right about that time I hear the small rustling of leaves that unmistakably means the arrival of someone. I glance up at the tree above our group and see Naruto's sensei Kakashi.

"Congratulations Hannah, Temari may not go easy on you, but she will teach you well." Kakashi said without taking his eyes off his novel.

"Kakashi Sensei! Thank you! What are you doing here?" Hannah said releasing her embrace on Temari.

"Naruto and I are escorting the Kazakage's group to the border of the Land of Fire, which now includes you." Kakashi said as he silently dropped from the tree.

"Hannah, perhaps you should go pack."

"Oh! Of course, thank you Temari!" she said giving her another small hug, then turned to me, "Thank you Kazakage!"

"Gaara" I say, bringing an even bigger smile to her face, if that was possible.


	3. Chapter 3

Restless Peace—Chapter 3

The journey back home was even less eventful. We were only confronted once and Temari and Hannah did the honors as a training exercise. Just in the few days since the two met, Hannah had learned much. As we approached the village, Hannah spoke.

"I've never seen your village before; Naruto tells me it's beautiful." She confesses looking between us all.

Temari smiles at her student who looks nervous. We approach the large wall that surrounds the village, and pass under the arch. The light passing through the dark passage prevents us from seeing anything but sunshine, until we move out of the enclosed space. Hannah gasps as she instantly takes in the sight. Her reaction makes me evaluate the village as well, really noticing all of its features.

It is nearing twilight and the sun is nearing its setting point directly behind the village horizon. Each building has a slight glow from the sand reflecting the light. My home rests in the center of the village, casting a protective shadow across the ground. The villagers are running around finishing last minute errands before returning home for the night. Off duty ninja walk down the streets laughing and speaking to occasional villagers. As we pass through the scene people greet us and those that we know well, we introduce to Hannah.

At one point a small child sees our group and tugs on her mother's dress. Her mother leans in close as her child whispers too her. For a moment an old memory of people speaking in hushed tones about me rises up to the surface and I feel a twinge of sadness. But just as these thoughts creep back to my mind, the child reaches to grab the four wild sand daisies's her mother gives her from the pots in her shop; and runs over to me and shyly extends the flower towards me. Temari, Konkuro and Hannah smile at the child as I reach to receive her gift. She smiles as I will my sand to form a bouquet of flowers and condense the sand so hard it will remain in its shape for a few days. I hand my gift to the girl and return her smile. Temari has scolded me before for keeping a passive expression when these encounters happen. The girl lets out a giggle at her gift and moves to give the remaining flowers to Temari, Konkuro and Hannah before making her way back to me and taking my sand flowers.

"Thank you sir!" She says with a small bow of her head, just like Hannah tends to give. Then she turned around and ran back to her mom who also gave a small bow of the head to me. "Mommy! Mommy! Did you see what the Kazakage gave me?" "Yes that was very nice of him wasn't it? Did you tell him thank you?" I heard the mother chastise as we move out of earshot.

"They love you." Hannah said gently. I turned to in surprise. Past her in our line was Temari whose smile paired with Hannah's made me greatly happy I had brought her back with us.

We reached the base of my home, the Kage's mansion of the sand. The two guards who stood at alert stiffened at the sight of us, but also greeted us with a smile.

"Lord Kazakage, welcome home."

"Thank you." We passed through the door and made our way through the large building up to the fourth floor. There are stairs of course but the workers had also carved holes in the floor on each level allowing access to the rounded hallways that held the doors to the various rooms. This was designed so I could have a quick way to get to and from each level. This was how we traveled today, Temari, Konkuro and I stopped and Hannah followed suit. I summoned the sand beneath our feet to carry us smoothly up to our destination on the fourth floor. Hannah stifled a laugh as she felt the sensation for the first time.

We walked onto the hallway floor, which was decorated with various plants and held a flood of sunlight from the large rounded window that was at the end of the round opening which was my personal elevator. As soon as Konkuro had walked onto safety of the hallway floor I let my sand drift gently back down to it resting place on the ground floor.

"Hannah." I address the girl to move into the room for which I am opening the door. She moves past me into the office. The head Security looked at Hannah with surprise and confusion which melted away as soon as I entered the room.

"Lord Gaara!" The man rose to his feet and addressed us.

"This is Hannah; she has come with us from Konoha to train under Temari. She will have level 1 security clearance understood?" I spoke mater-of-factly and the man's face showed humor then utter confusion.

"Sir, I must protest, level 1! Sir that would grant her access to you at anytime, and passage through the entire building!" The head of security gaped in surprise as he tried to recover.

"I understand our security levels. And I am telling you that she will have level 1 clearance. She will also have clearance to come and go from the village as she pleases if she so chooses." My tone had changed I didn't like being challenged in front of a guest. I think he got the message from my authoritive tone.

"Uh yes sir! I will notify the staff immediately." He says as Hannah and I turn to leave. I close the door behind us and Temari raises her eyebrows at me. I know what she is thinking _Level 1?_ Yes, if I am to show my trust for the Leaf and its ninja, what better way than to give her such a privilege. Not only that, I do trust her.

I walk past them and pull the cork out of the top of my gourd, my stride doesn't falter as I let my weight fall toward the open hole in the center of the room.

"Whoa!" Hannah exclaims as she wraps her arms around me and pulls me back without success, my sand reaches the space moments before my foot and I turn to look at Hannah's worried expression. It quickly turns to embarrassment as she lets go of me and turns her face away. "Sorry Kazakage, I, I thought you were going to fall.

I move to the center of the hovering disk of sand and turn back to face her, "Gaara." That's all I say as I extend my hand to her. She smiles, embarrassment gone, and takes my hand to balance her as she steps over the gap onto my sand. We move up another floor, and I send my sand back into my gourd. Temari takes over from there.

"Well this is where all of our rooms are." Temari continues to point out all of our various dwellings to Hannah, and finally leads her to the guest room that she will stay in. Temari seems to have everything covered so I excuse myself. I'm sure what's waiting for me is equally frustrating as what Tsunade was facing when I last saw her. I summon my sand yet again and move up to the next and final floor. The floors get smaller as they go up and the final floor is solely my office and dwelling.

The day draws to a close and I decide I have done enough for a night. It is hard for me to sleep now, for the longest time sleep was my greatest enemy. And now with the pressure off, I still can't sleep anymore than a couple of hours a night. I look out one of the small windows in my room and face a full moon. I will the sand that makes up the walls of the building to open and allow my gourd sand to carry me up to the roof before re-closing the wall I sit there for a while, simply looking over the village. It is beautiful even in slumber. A few windows show signs of life, shadows dance across the openings reveling figures moving about.

I lean back and move my gaze to the sky. The moon rising in the sky tells me it's about eleven now. It will be at least three hours until my mind allows me to fall asleep. My mind wonders to memories of the past, and threatens to pull me into despair. Then I think about my new life, the Kazakage, that child who brought me a sand daisy. Hannah saying they loved me. Could that be true? Could people who despised me so, love me now? The answer comes to me quickly, yes. I know it is possible because I have seen it elsewhere. Naruto, he was despised just as I was, but I have seen without a doubt, his village loves him.

I pull my mind from these thoughts and decide I should make a pass over the perimeter and make sure we are secure. I trust my people explicitly, but I couldn't call myself Kazakage if I didn't take my people's safety into my own hands. My sand forms almost before I think for it to come. And I move silently above my village surveying the streets. Everything is quiet, but a small figure almost passes without me noticing far beneath me. I fly lower and see it is Hannah walking around the Kage mansion. She doesn't notice me until I am a few feet above her.

"Hannah, it may not be smart for you to walk alone out here at night." I say to her as I land and my sand retreats back to its resting place.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry, I just couldn't sleep." She says in return. "I'm not sure, but I'd say your home is just as beautiful at night." She says smiling up at me.

"Yes, it may be." Then the inevitable question comes.

"What were you doing?" Hannah asks.

"I like to take a look over the village every night and make sure all is well." I answer honestly. I summon my sand to hover inches from the ground and step up again. I beckon Hannah to join me and she does without question. "Temari will not go easy on you because of your lack of sleep." I try to joke; Konkuro says it makes me more pleasant. I reach the wall that I know to lead to Hannah's room and have it fall away so she may step into the building.

"Thanks for the advice, good night." She laughs quietly. I send the sand back to reform her wall and return to my survey of the village.

I make my way from the center of the village to the outer wall and move slowly around its perimeter. Occasionally a ninja on duty will notice me and respectfully salute or nod. But otherwise everything is quiet. I move back to the center mansion and don't stop there. I push the sand to raise high over the roof to give me a view of the surrounding desert. I know what to look for to recognize a threat, moving or disrupted sand, unexplained shadows in the moonlight. Sometimes if I feel uneasy I return to the roof and summon up as much chakra as I can a feel the desert. I can sense anything moving be it a desert hare or an intruder. There is no reason to do so tonight so I return to my room. There is nothing to do now but make use of my time until I make another round at four o'clock before I finally give into sleep. I return to my desk and busy myself with more paperwork and lose myself in my work.

I may hate this part just as much as the Hokage, but I face it with a bit more of a 'suffer in silence' attitude. Somehow I can't picture the Raikage ever doing any paper work. The thought jolts me from my concentration and I check the moon. It's around three, when you spend years without sleep, one tends to learn the patterns of the moon. I leave my work behind and do another round checking the village before heading off to sleep.

The next day I wake up naturally at six thirty as always. I shower and dress before heading out to do another sweep of the village before the day starts. On my way back I see Temari and Hannah already hard at work in one of the training arenas below. I would go and observe if I didn't have all that paper works still left to do, much less the various meetings and missions to assign.

The days go on following this pattern, Hannah grows stronger and whenever I have a slow day I take her to the arena and train her in defense. She is attentive and respectful and works diligently. Every time she sees me or my siblings she asks if we need anything and thanks us for bringing her here. Temari teaches her to direct wind chakra past the ends of her twin fans like throwing kuni. She struggles with the nature change and it takes her several weeks to get it right.

Hannah steadily improves, learning from each of us. Konkuro even manages to teach her some strategy. We go on like this for several months, Hannah becomes stronger, and my village slowly begins to accept and trust her. Then the letter that changes everything arrives.


	4. Chapter 4

Restless Peace—Chapter 4

I receive a message from a man who runs a small village island east of the land of fire. He reports that his village is struggling to survive now that the war is over. The lack in fighting has left his home, which makes weapons, without income. He asks that I travel to his island to discuss us buying weapons to keep them alive. I speak with my advisors and we decide to help the village.

"Temari," I say after the meeting had adjourned and the crowd dispersed, "I need you to send a message to the Hokage telling her we are traveling with Hannah. Explain to her the situation and tell her we will bring Hannah back as promised on our journey home."

"Gaara we still so much to teach her…" She begins before I cut her off.

"Hannah has learned from you what she came here to. You have taught her how to learn to control her wind chakra and use it with her fans. That was why she came; we cannot go back on our agreement with the Hokage, no matter how we feel personally about Hannah." This made Temari stop short. She knew as well as I that she wanted Hannah to stay for more than to teach her more. We enjoyed Hannah's presence, especially Temari. I was right when I thought Temari regarded her as a little sister. That was exactly how she talked about her now.

"Ok." She finally said leaving the room.

The next day preparations were complete. My team plus Hannah set off to leave the village and take our second journey together. Hannah said goodbye to the few friends she had made and promised to take every mission around here she could. One of the friends she has made is my former student Matsuri; they exchanged a small embrace and said their goodbyes before we left.

We made our way quickly through the familiar desert and past the country borders. Hannah was the youngest and sometimes we could tell the pace was weighing on her, but then she would push herself ahead so we wouldn't suggest we slow for her. On the other hand Konkuro, older than both Hannah and I couldn't stop complaining about the pace.

"Ok I just don't understand one thing." Konkuro began in his whining tone. Temari let out an exasperated sigh and told Konkuro to give it a rest but he continues.

"Gaara why don't you just fly us there? I mean really then none of us would be tired!" His tone reveled his ignorance; he honestly thought he had found a key solution. Luckily Temari saved me the annoyance of having to explain the reality to him.

"Yeah all of us but Gaara! He can't just fly around all day without getting tired you idiot! You do remember that he is Kazakage right? And that being on his team means that you are here for the sole purpose of protecting and helping him right? It's not his job to accommodate you!" She finished her rant and Hannah tried without success not too laugh. Not long after Konkuro's response of 'whatever' Temari spoke again.

"There are three people up ahead." We were quite a ways north of Konoha and I don't know this part of the Land of Fire very well.

"Civilians?" I ask.

"No, they are in the trees. Should we go around them?"

"No, if they are friendly we do not want to appear to be moving to avoid leaf ninja, and if they are not there are only three of them." Konkuro chuckled at the end of my statement and Hannah's eyes narrowed in concentration.

At that moment a flash of orange appeared right in front of the branch Konkuro was jumping to, and fell to the ground. Konkuro swore after seeing who it was.

"Naruto what was that for?"

"Payback." Naruto said laughing. Our group stopped and Kakashi and Sakura ran up to us. Hannah yelled a welcome to Naruto and he moved to talk to her.

"What brings you here?" Temari asked.

"The Hokage received your message, and thought it appropriate to provide you with an escort to show our support of your weapons deal so the ninja here wouldn't think your were arming up. That is if Gaara doesn't mind. I of course didn't as long as none of them moved as slow as Konkuro, knowing for a fact they didn't . We continued on with a slightly quicker pace. Naruto and I led the group, and made our way to the shore line. "The Hokage also arranged for a ship to transport the group to your destination." Kakashi explained.

Naruto led the way to the right one and the ship was all prepared to sail. Every action the Hokage took was to show friendship between their nations and villages. For this I was grateful. We were shown our rooms; the inner workings of the large ship were simple but comfortable. There was a long hallway with two doors on each side. One a room for the girls, and the one across from it a room for the men. The other two doors housed a kitchen and sitting area. And at the end of the hall was a room that was assigned to me.

Our voyage was easy, Naruto told humorous stories about his journey by ship with Rock Lee's sensei; while Hannah and Temari trained off the back of the ship. It was a just over a full day's journey to the small island. After thanking the crew for their services our group made its way through the island until we were met by a man who claimed to be the author of the letter he had received. The subordinate questions Kakashi's teams presence saying he is not prepared to make any deals with the Leaf ninja. Naruto almost comes apart at the man's attitude but Sakura punches him hard before he gets the chance. Kakashi explains that they are here strictly as escorts and the man's attitude is persistent.

"We have prepared a house for the Kazakage and his team." The man speaks emphasizing the lack of planning for the leaf ninja.

"What of our ship's crew?" I speak drawing away his scowl at Naruto and bringing back a pleasant smile as he addresses me and my team.

"They will be taken care of sir." The man quickly replies.

The next day Naruto is walking on the island beach where he is met by kankuro who explains that Gaara looks weak for having so many people with him, but wouldn't tell Naruto that because he is his friend. Kankuro asks Naruto to leave and take all three of his team with him.

Feeling bad for making Gaara look bad he heads back to the house to get Kakashi and Sakura and go. When he realizes that Kankuro said to take all _three_ of this teammates with him. This makes Naruto uneasy and reminds him of the villager who looked the same way when he greeted Gaara and was annoyed by Naruto's team being with him.

On his way back to the house Naruto is stopped by Sakura who he talks to and then heads back to the house.

When he goes into the living room Gaara is standing and Kakashi is sitting on the couch reading his book. Kankuro is walking up to Gaara and Naruto feels strange and defensive against kankuro.

Naruto senses something is off about Kankuro's chakra and runs to him, punches him and pins him against the wall. Kakashi jumps off the couch and Gaara begins to send his sand at Naruto.

Naruto yells at Gaara to stop and says it's not Kankuro. Gaara and Kakashi look at Naruto like he's gone insane and try to coak him to let Kankuro go. Kankuro curses at Naruto and asks what the hell he thinks he's doing.

Naruto begins to explain the way kankuro talked to him and what he said about how Naruto should take his 3 teammates and leave and how Naruto sensed something was off with his chakra. Naruto tells Gaara he will let kankuro go if Gaara asks him a question only kankuro would know the answer to and he gets it right.

Gaara asks kankuro a question and kankuro gives an evil smile then pushes Naruto off and goes after Gaara with a kuni knife, and the sand pushes him back into Naruto who punches him in the face and Kankuro disappears like a shadow clone.

After the fact Naruto takes up a defensive position in front of Gaara and yells at Kakashi to tell him who his father was. Gaara says Kakashi has been with him the whole time but Naruto tells Kakashi to answer the question.

Kakashi calmly answers "My father was known as the white fang of the leaf, he committed suicide when I was 13 years old." Naruto relaxes a little and steps to the side of Gaara.

"Sorry I had to check!" Naruto exclaims. Putting his hands behind his head and looking through one eye at his sensei.

"I understand now what that was all about?" Kakashi says bringing his book out again.

"Dude could you guys be any louder down here? I was finally getting some sleep!" Kankuro sleepily walks down the stairs into the room. Naruto and Gaara look from one another than to Kakashi.

"Kankuro," Gaara says, "What is the name of our sensei?" Kankuro looks at Gaara like he is bothering him.

"You mean Baki? What does he have to do with anything? Geeze you are all weird." Gaara looks to Naruto to confirm the answer.

Naruto sighs in relief then his eyes go wide as he makes a shocking realization. "You've been asleep this whole time! It's two in the afternoon! Someone just tried to kill your brother and you were sleeping?"

"Yes I've been asleep." Kankuro states matter-of-factly. "Wait what did you say?"

"You heard me! While you were off getting beauty sleep someone made a shadow clone of you and tried to kill Gaara!" Gaara who had moved to the window crossed his arms and bowed his head in deep thought.

"We need to get Temari, Hannah and Sakura here so there are no more mix-ups while we figure out what just happened." Kakashi says without looking up from his book.

"Temari is in the garden in the back. I will go get her." Gaara says to himself more than anyone. Naruto is still explaining and arguing with Kankuro and doesn't register Gaara's words until he is out the door.

"Wait! Don't you get it! You can't just go off on your own!" Naruto yells running after Gaara.

Just as Gaara walks out the door Temari looks up from her book and three kuni with paper bombs land on the bench next to her. Gaara's eyes widen with shock and he sends his sand to protect her a second before they go off. In the same moment more kuni bombs fall to the ground surrounding Gaara in a circle while his sand is with Temari. Naruto tackles Gaara and the paper bombs all go off.

Kakashi and Kankuro run out and Temari emerges from the sand, shocked. Gaara crawls out from under Naruto eyes wide at the scene. Naruto used himself to defend Gaara from the bombs in place of his sand, while it was with Temari. Naruto's back was bloody and his cloths ripped and singed. Several kuni were protruding his back and one had clipped his neck which was bleeding profusely. Apparently after the Explosion another wave of raining kuni's had been thrown in case the attacker missed his target with the bombs. Gaara helplessly looked into his eyes which were alight with Naruto's sage mode, which faded as Naruto quietly mouthed Gaara's name. "Naruto!" Temari yelled, as Naruto's vision faded.


	5. Chapter 5

Restless Peace—Chapter 5

"Quickly get them both inside and don't let anyone in without questioning their identity, even me. I will go find Sakura and Hannah." Kakashi yelled addressing Temari and Kankuro, and was gone. Kankuro and Gaara lifted Naruto's bleeding body into the house and Temari bolted the door behind them, and went to the other doors to do the same.

"Ah crap, come on Naruto keep breathing." Kankuro yelled at Naruto as he pulled the knives from his flesh. "Dang it that's a lot of blood. Temari we need lots of towels and something to use as a turnicut!" Gaara had his sand cut off Naruto's blood flow to this bleeding leg." Hold pressure on the cut on his neck Gaara!" Temari entered with the towels then heard the sound of the door being pounded on by what sounded like a giant.

"That's probably Sakura." Temari huffed as she darted to the door. Looking out the window her assumption was confirmed and she quickly yelled out to her, "What team number is Team Kakashi?"

"Team 7,! Now let me in!" As soon as Temari reached the door she opened it and Sakura ran past her into the bloody scene. For half a moment she was overwhelmed by the sight of her friend, then resorted to her training with Tsunade and took control working quickly and efficiently. "How long has it been?"

"Two minutes at the most." Temari answered as she re-entered the room. Sakura swore under her breath as she moved beside Naruto.

"What's his worst injury?" She yelled at Kankuro and Gaara who were both holding towels to Naruto's body.

"I would guess the cut on his neck it's been bleeding really bad." Kankuro yelled back although they were now inches from each other. Sakura instructed Gaara to remove the towel and Gaara moved a few feet back and watched with a muted sense of panic and anger. Temari moved beside Gaara for a moment before being instructed to get water from Temari.

After another 5 minutes of work, the sand sibling could sense a small sense of relief from Sakura. Shortly after, Naruto's eyes opened and he looked blankly around the room. His eyes met Sakura's and widened, he coughed and tried to speak. "Don't talk," Sakura said with finality, "there's still a lot of blood in your lungs I have to remove." Naruto looked at Kankuro questioningly who laughed.

"Don't worry retard, it's her. We questioned her, she's not about to attack Gaara." Gaara sighed with exasperation at the genuine relief that over took Naruto's face. At that moment there was another knock at the door. "That will be Kakashi." Kankuro said moving to the front of the house to the door. Naruto moved to sit up and tried to cover the pain on his face with a smile.

He coughed again and laughed, "Don't worry about it Sakura, you know how fast I heal!" Sakura grumbled something about him never listening to her when Kakashi and Hannah came in the room. "Hey guys." Naruto smiled and winked at Hannah, whose color began to return to her face.

Hannah's eyes swept the room finally leaving Naruto and found Gaara. The expression he wore was one she had never seen before, and she never wanted to see again. It was a mixture of extreme pain and anger. The kind of emotions that only go together when someone close to you is hurt. She quietly moved to his side and yearned to comfort him. This confused her since Naruto was the one hurt, but her heart was telling her Gaara needed her more than him. She gently lifted her hand and let it rest on his elbow that was tensely tucking his other arm into a tight cross filled with stress. At her touch Gaara's arms tensed further, then relaxed as he looked down at his friend. She didn't smile at him or tell him it would be ok. Gaara didn't need that; he just needed someone to be there with him in that moment.

No one paid any attention to the exchange between the two, which held so much meaning to Gaara. With the slightest touch Hannah brought him back to reality and allowed him to find the strength to take charge. He was angry, so angry at whoever had done this too his friend, and at the same time he was furious at Naruto for doing what he had done. But he came to the realization that he would have and did do the same for Temari, sacrificed his defense for his sister. Just as Naruto had done for his friend, he knew it was Naruto's instinct, to always protect his friends before himself. That's what made him so unpredictable on the battlefield.

"All right, while a Sakura patch up Naruto's back we need to figure out what our next course of action is." Kakashi cool and collected voice instructed the group and faced the situation in a way forward.

"Hold up!" Naruto yelled. Everyone looked from Kakashi to Naruto, who was still looking pretty rough. "Multi-Shadow clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled and 10 Naruto's filled the room to full capacity. Naruto wavered slightly as the smoke cleared and kankuro held him up.

"You idiot!" Sakura yelled as she hit Naruto on the head. "What do you think you're doing? If I told you not to talk I probably didn't want you to be doing a jutsu did I!"

"Ow! Geeze Sakura give me a break!" The encounter lightened the mood in the room slightly.

"What could you possibly need ten clones for right now anyway!" Sakura continued.

"Give me a sec and you'll find out!" Naruto yelled back. Sakura gave him a look that threatened another punch to the face but Naruto turned from her to the clones and gave instructions. "I need you guys in pairs of two, one pair on each side of the house and one pair on the roof. One of the two on the roof I want to go into sage mode until I can and watch for anyone approaching. If you see anyone of us approaching the house with clone chakra attack it and let me know." Naruto finish out of breath and sent the clones to their positions outside the house. They all left instantly.

They all moved to the living room and sat down, Sakura finished the cut she was working on then moved to help Naruto in to join the group. "Hey Sakura?" Naruto said as they stood up together. "Hmm?" "Well I was wondering what would happen if someone on our team like, lost a leg or something while on a mission? Could you help them?" Sakura looked at him confused.

"Well yes, I guess. I've been trained to deal with most injuries that can happen in the field. Why do you ask?" Sakura explained questioningly.

"Well would you like put them to sleep if you had to do that or would we just have to pass out or something?" Naruto said with fear in his eyes contemplating the scenario.

Sakura chuckled," No I have some anesthesia I carry with me to all our missions in case I have to do something like that, it's in my bag upstairs. And your leg wasn't that bad by the way." She finished with a smirk.

They moved together into the living room where Kakashi had already begun talking. Sakura led Naruto to a coffee table that had been moved to make a bigger circle for them to sit in that was now part of the circle. Naruto sat down and Sakura continued to work on the smaller cuts on his back.

"…the attacks were clearly aimed at Gaara, both the Kankuro clone and the episode outside." Kakashi finished.

"But they attacked Temari with those three kuni." Kankuro questioned generally confused by the whole situation and blunt wake up.

"Yes but the attack on Temari was most likely just to move Gaara's defenses away from him to open him up to a much larger attack. Which was also followed by an attack with many more kuni in case the first was deflected." Kakashi explained looking at Naruto who had no hint of regret but wore an expression that said it was all fact and it all went according to plan. This made Kakashi smile slightly under his ever present mask even through the situation. "So," Kakashi continued, "We know that the enemy has the ability to make shadow clones of other people. Although we have no idea how many they are able to control at once. Our enemy has already proven to be a serious threat and very strategic. We need to decide where to go from here…" Kakashi was cut off by Naruto.

"Well obviously our first move is to get Gaara off this island." Naruto stated matter of factly; looking at the ground as Sakura moved her hands away from his back and stated that she was finished. Naruto turned to her and thanked her. _It always amazes me how quickly he heals himself; his body had started healing before I even got to him. He is truly amazing. _Sakura caught herself within her own mind and forced herself to focus on the situation at hand as she moved to take a seat next to Kakashi. Gaara had closed his eyes refusing to make eye contact with Naruto as he gave his opinion on Naruto's plan.

"I will not seem a coward and run from every threat that comes my way. Do you think so little of me? We will find this person or these people and eliminate them. A message will be sent that the Kazakage will not be intimidated by such people." Gaara spoke with dignity and power as he spoke. Even though Temari and Kankuro liked the idea of getting there little brother away from this threat that had already bypassed his defenses, Gaara was speaking as there Kazakage now, as their leader. Hannah felt it to, the pride in Gaara's voice as he spoke with absolute authority.

If Naruto felt it, he ignored it. "Whatever! Even I can see something's going on here, we've got to go with the worst-case-scenario on this one and that means getting you out of here."

Temari began to speak possibly to remind Naruto that Gaara was the Kazakage and he was in charge, but Naruto didn't give her the chance. "That guy that met us when we got here acted the same way to Kakashi, Sakura and I being here that the Kankuro clone did. That means that this goes all the way down to Gaara being invited here. Which means the whole invitation was a trap." He rephrased himself just to get the point across. _The main thing is getting Temari and Kankuro on board with getting Gaara out of here, something tells me they would go along with it if they weren't bound to his Kazakage crap. _

Naruto kept pushing his point. "Think about it, they picked the perfect scenario to trap Gaara! The island itself is too far for you all to call backup that's why they didn't want us here with you guys. From what the enemy has already showed he is able to make seemingly perfect clones of people. If they enemy took the Kazakage out on an island that he went to alone what do you think he planned to do then?" Naruto was standing now; anger building at his friend who he had sworn he would protect that wouldn't even acknowledge him. "Gaara look at me!" Sakura flinched and Temari looked stunned. Gaara slowly raised his head and glared at Naruto as he faced him. "They probably want to replace you with a clone and control the Sand village!"

Kakashi, who had long given up on calming his student, contemplated everything Naruto had said. It was a possibility, but not only that, it was likely. It was common knowledge that there were many that were unhappy with the new era of peace and the alliances between the great nations. No one thought the alliances would last forever but to some the sooner the alliances broke the better. Many of the smaller nations had heavily profited by the constant state of confrontation between the large powers by making weapons and armor. It was not so farfetched to assume someone would go to such lengths to break up the current alliances.

"Gaara open your eyes! Do you remember what you asked me after you lost the shukaku?" Naruto waited for Gaara to answer as he knew he would.

"I asked you why you would come after me knowing the Akatsuki was after you as well." Gaara answered, obviously confused as to how this applied to the current situation.

"And I said it was because you were my friend. And you were more important than me anyway." This conversation was news to everyone else in the room and they listened eagerly to Naruto as he recounted the event. "Not only because you were the Kazakage, but because you had a family. Something I don't have, something more important than anything else!" There was pain in Naruto's voice as he spoke, and it had nothing to do with his injuries.

Gaara briefly looked to the ground before looking at Temari and Kankuro. He had nothing, no defense against Naruto's words. Naruto continued; raising his hand to point at Gaara's siblings as they sat together on the couch opposite him. "We have already established that our enemy isn't stupid! If they plan to replace you with a stupid clone, don't you think they would assume your own brother and sister would notice! That would mean they would have to replace them too!"

This time Gaara stood and faced Naruto. "So you expect me to leave! You think I will sit idly by safe on my way home while I let them and you stay and look for this faceless enemy! I will stand and fight to protect my comrades and my family just as you do! What gives you the right to stand and fight while I run and hide!" Gaara yelled with anger.

"Because I'm not their target! They don't care about me! They're not gonna stop hunting you! You're the Kazakage! And I don't expect you to leave them here to defend you! I expect all of you to get out of here and let us handle it. We will send for backup and find these creeps! But we can't fight and search the island while worrying about you three the whole time! We stand a better chance of finding whoever is behind all of this crap if you are safely away from here!"

"How so? Leaving the three of you here alone leaves you defenseless. And our presence at least keeps the enemy close!" Gaara yelled back at his friend.

"So what, you want to be bait! Like we are going to let you stay just to be bait for the enemy! We do not use such tactics Gaara." Naruto calms his voice, knowing he has presented his argument to its fullest and it's the right course of action. "Gaara you are my friend, and I will defend you and your siblings and eliminate those who are threatening you, I promise. And I always keep my word, cause that's my nindo, my ninja way!" Finishing his speech with a smirk on his face, Naruto moves out of the square of couches and moves behind Gaara's seat and walks away.


	6. Chapter 6

Restless Peace—Chapter 6

Chapter 7

"Naruto, where are you going?" Sakura yells after Naruto.

"Don't worry Sakura, I'll be right back, I'm going upstairs to get my kuni bag, cause whatever we do, I'll probably need it!" Naruto heads upstairs down the hallway that separated the four bedrooms that accommodated their party. But Naruto passes he and Kankuro's room and walks into the girl's room. Quickly and quietly he finds Sakura's bag and finds the needle that would make the night go according to plan. Naruto ducks out of the girl's room with his spoils and moves into his room and straps on his kuni bag. Shoving the needle under the elastic of his sleeve, Naruto sits on the floor with his feet crossed and closes his eyes. Sitting without the slightest movement Naruto allows the nature chakra around him to flow into him, balancing the three chakra's within him perfectly he opens his eyes with the power of sage mode within him.

Running back down stairs he meets the eyes of those in the group as they look up. Gaara and Hannah are still on the couch with their backs to him, Kakashi and Sakura on the couch across from them facing him, and Kankuro and Temari on the couch facing Naruto's vacant coffee table. It was now late evening and the sun was almost set leaving a dull glow of orange outlining the trees and casting shadows through the windows. The TV was all but forgotten, and the living room was now for all intents and purposes the strategy room as they faced this crisis. Naruto lets out a dramatic sigh. "Cum oooonnnnn guys! Aren't you going to ask if I'm really Naruto or ask some kind of personal question or something?" The expressions he is met with are not apologetic.

"You idiot you're in freakin' Sage mode, I don't think any knock-off clone could pull that off…" Kankuro explains with an annoyed tone. Naruto squints and meets his gaze with a glare.

"Yes Naruto, we were just discussing that since the Kankuro clone didn't have his knowledge to answer the question then they probably aren't able to duplicate our special jutsu's." Temari states. Naruto stays at the bottom of the stairs conflicted within by what he planned to do. He knew it was for the best. It would ultimately protect his friends and allow his plan to be put into action. But the thought of what he was about to his friend did not sit well with him. Ultimately, the risks of what his actions might do to his friendship with Gaara and his trust could not outweigh the need to keep his promise to Lady Chio and protect Gaara.

Naruto moved casually towards his seat as the needle in his sleeve moved into his hand. Before anyone knew what had happened, especially Gaara, Naruto had gracefully used his sage-mode enhanced speed to gently plunge the need of anesthesia into Gaara's shoulder. Everyone immediately jumped out of their seats and started yelling. Naruto looked down into his friends eyes as Gaara fell into a deep sleep from the medicine. He couldn't meet any of the angry faces now looking at him for an explanation. He could only look down at the face of his friends with a look of peace on his face.

No one but Sakura actually understood what had happened.

"Naruto! Was that my anesthesia?" "What the hell did you do to my brother you stupid jerk!" "Gaara, Gaara, answer me!" Naruto what's going on, why, why would you do that?" These were the cries of everyone who yelled, Sakura, Kankuro, Temari, and Hannah. Kakashi just looked exhausted and annoyed at the same time. Finally Kakashi spoke, loudly demanding attention and immediate action. "Ok! Everyone quiet." Silence took over the group, but nothing could mute the glares that met Naruto when he lifted his head. "Alright, that's better. Now, Naruto would you care to tell us why you used Sakura's medicine to put Gaara to sleep?" Kakashi finished his statement clearly expecting some unintelligent answer in return. When Naruto finally met the gazes of his friends in the room, they were all shocked further when they realized that Naruto was crying softly.

"I'm really sorry. I know I had no right to do this, I know Gaara is the Kazakage now and he is in charge of this mission and should have the final say in whether he stays or leaves the island. But I have a really bad feeling about this. Whoever it is we are dealing with got through Gaara's defenses too quickly, it scares me. The day we brought Gaara back, before you and the other Sand ninja got there, Lady Chio, with her dying breaths, asked me to protect and look out for Gaara. And I have tried to live up to that request ever since. And everything within me is screaming to get Gaara out of here in order to keep that promise. I know that I'm probably going to lose my friendship with Gaara over this, and maybe even his trust. But if I can keep him safe, it will be worth it. I knew he would never agree to leave, from the moment I suggested it. Gaara is too good of a guy to leave anyone behind to protect himself or even his family."

He looked up at Temari and Kankuro, as he continued, "I just needed to explain my actions and reasons to you, so that you might be able to understand why I did this. Gaara is fine; if you don't believe me ask Sakura, he is just asleep. And if we choose to, he will be asleep long enough to get him out of here without any resistance. There that's all I have to say."

No one said anything for a long time, apart from Sakura confirming Naruto's earlier statement about Gaara just being asleep. Sakura was feeling sad thinking of Lady Chio, who had fought with Sakura and given her life to save Gaara. She remembered that day well and remembered the promise Naruto made to protect Gaara. She too felt compelled to go along with Lady Chio's final wish and do whatever necessary to keep Gaara safe. She had to admit, Naruto must really care about Gaara if he had been devising a way to get his friend off the island even right after waking up from his injuries.

Temari and Kankuro were essentially thinking the same thing. They were appalled at Naruto for what he had just done to their little brother, and their Kazakage, but at the same time looking at Naruto cry over possibly losing his friendship and his intense desire to protect Gaara. Naruto had shown his will to help their brother many times in the past going all the way back to when Gaara lost the Shukaku up until a few hours ago when he defended him from an attack with his life. They knew they could trust Naruto's intensions but they were worried about his methods. They too desperately wanted to protect Gaara, but he was also their leader, and he called the shots.

Naruto new that Gaara's brother and sister would be conflicted by their instincts to protect their little brother, and following the orders of their Kazakage. "If you guys catch crap about disobeying his desire to stay later, you can just say I knocked him out and he was defenseless and we had to get him out or something, just please help me get him off this island tonight." No one knew what to say, they all knew the benefits of getting Gaara out outweighed the risks but still they were hesitant. They all ended up resting their gazes of confliction yearning for resolve on Kakashi.

Kakashi let out a sigh. "Considering the Kazakage has been rendered unable to command this team. I will take charge if this is ok with the sand ninja." Temari and Kankuro could not express their relief and willingness to have this decision lifted from their shoulders. Kakashi acknowledged their expressions as confirmation and continued. "Considering the evidence that the meeting that brought the Sand Kazakage and his team here was formed under false pretences, I believe the Sand ninja's involvement is no longer relevant and this is officially a Konoha matter. Therefore the Kazakage and his team should return to the land of fire where they will be escorted safely back to the land of wind." Kakashi met Naruto's face with a smile. "Maybe wait until we run out of options before putting someone to sleep so they will do what you want Naruto."

"Hey you heard him! He was talkin all high and mighty and was gonna use himself as bait just because he's so stubborn and couldn't find and other reason to stick around! Thank you Kakashi. Temari, Kankuro, please forgive me for what I did to Gaara." Naruto met the gazes of each of them waiting to hear an earful, mainly from Temari.

"We forgive you; we know that you had your reasons, however misguided." Temari said after exchanging a look with her brother. "But if you ever tell Gaara we went along with you we will lie, and tell him we beat you up." Kankuro added.

Kakashi begins the new mission saying, "Ok, let's get a plan together."


	7. Chapter 7

Restless Peace—Chapter 7

After summoning two more clones, Naruto and a clone carry Gaara up to his room and stay with him, both in sage-mode. The second clone stays in the living room with everyone to get a plan together. By eleven o'clock they have put together their mission. "Alright lets run over everything again. Our formation to the docks will consist of two levels of protection around Gaara. One Naruto clone will carry Gaara on his back in the center. Surrounded by Naruto, and three of his clones, all in Sage-mode, ready to alert us to any clones, or other persons approaching. Our next level will consist of myself at the north, Kankuro and Hannah running to the east and west with their mid range jutsu, and finally Sakura with her medical jutsu running in the south. Temari will take point to accommodate her long range jutsu without any of us being in her way. She will be our first point of attack on any clones approaching. We will not attack any ninja or civilian with normal chakra without being provoked. We have to be prepared for any scenario. No matter what happens we keep moving toward the docks." Kakashi paused to let this point take precedence with the group. Feeling everyone understood his point, Kakashi continued.

"Once we reach the docks Sakura, Naruto, and all of his clones will move onto the ship we came in on or any other ship available depending on the situation. Naruto will check the ship for any chakra, clone or otherwise and Sakura and three of the clones will rid the ship of any people found. Simply tell any civilians to leave and kill the clones. After double checking for foreign chakra, two of the Naruto clones will take the Kazakage into the inner bedroom of the ship and stay with him, one clone will stay directly outside the Kazakage's door and the final clone will guard the door to the inner part of the ship. Once the clones are assembled Sakura will come take Hannah's place on the defensive line and Hanna will take the place of one clone in Gaara's room. That clone will come out on deck and wait. After that the real Naruto will advance halfway down the dock and Kankuro will head to the ship and use his puppets to pull down the sail, and Naruto will summon two regular clones to start pushing the ship to sea. After Kankuro pulls down the sail he will guard the door to the inner ship and the two sage clones already on the ship deck will tie down the sail on either side of the ship. Remember right now we are planning all of this to happen simultaneously and happen within seconds. We are still planning on a worst-case-scenario; which would mean the defensive line will be harder to maintain every moment. Assuming the enemy clones work the same way as Naruto's, every time we defeat one of them the rest will learn more about our attacks, tactics and weaknesses. Anyway, once the sails are secured, and the boat is moving. Naruto will release the two new clones and Temari will run for the ship, using her powerful wind technique to push wind into the sails and push the ship far into the sea away from the dock. Then Naruto will summon Gamakichi and Gamatasu. Sakura and I will fall back to Naruto forming a new line and Naruto will use a combined attack with the toads to push back the enemy long enough for the ship to get out to sea."

Looking at Temari, Kankuro, and Hannah, Kakashi continued. "After that your mission will be to protect the Kazakage, and ours will be to locate and eliminate the enemy on the island. The four sage clones will stay with you until they pass beyond Naruto's chakra range, which we have no way of anticipating, but if I had to guess I would guess they would be with you halfway to the land of fire. The Naruto clone in charge, umm Naruto will figure that out, will have a message to give to a messenger bird explaining the situation and asking for you an escort and us some back up. If anything happens and you need help, dismiss one of the Naruto clones and we will know to come help. Everyone got it?" The group looked at one another determined and ready to go. Only Hannah looked worried.

"Will," Hannah looked unsure whether or not to speak, "Will you three be ok?" Looking from Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto all of the worst-case-scenario ran through her mind. Naruto smiled and put his hands behind his head.

"Don't worry about us Hannah! You just stick with Gaara and be the leaf's representation on that boat ok!"

Hannah new Naruto could handle just about everything, he had saved the whole village when it was attacked by the Akatsuki leader last year, and had grown even stronger since the war. If anyone could handle himself out here it was Naruto. And these three had worked together as a team since day one; a team that had been through so much must be pretty powerful together. Especially led by Kakashi and having the Hokage's student. Hannah decided she would probably just get in there way, she was nowhere near their level right now. Hannah decided two things in that moment: one, she had no worries about leaving and would do her best to fulfill her part of this mission perfectly; and two, she would train harder than ever from here on out, so next time she would not be in the way or on a lower level than anyone, she would be a trusted comrade just like the sand and leaf ninja. "Ok. When do we leave?"

With the plans set, the clone disappeared and Naruto looked at the clone beside him and then to his friend, still in a deep sleep. Naruto helped the clone pick up Gaara and his sand gourd and put them on the clones back. They both jumped out one of the large windows into the cool night. Naruto bites his finger "Summoning jutsu!" Out of the smoke appear Gamakichi and Gamatasu, the toad brothers. "Hey guys!"

"Naruto! What's up!" "Do you have any snacks?" Gamakichi and Gamatasu greeted Naruto in their typical fashions.

"Guys I need your help tonight." Naruto give a short version of what's been going on, "so we are getting Gaara of the island tonight. Eventually I may summon you depending on how bad things get." Naruto contemplates the situation and how he hopes things aren't as bad as he feels they are. "So, if I summon you, just ignore it and start drinking toad oil Gamatasu, then I'll summon you again and you both come and hopefully we can push the enemy back enough with our toad oil flame bullet attack to let the ship with Gaara and his family gets away."Naruto looks pleadingly at the brothers, praying they understand. "Any questions?"

"Uhhhh I'm confused…" Gamatasu says. "Don't worry about it Naruto, we'll be there, I'll explain everything to Gamatasu later." Gamakichi assures Naruto.

"Alright then, I'm counting on both of you! Thanks!" The toads both disappear into the same smoke they arrived in and Naruto turns his attention to the next part of his mission.

"Oi! Everyone get over here now!" All of the clones he summoned earlier appeared instantly. Dismissing all but three, the four of them sit down and go into sage-mode together. Just as they are finishing, the rest of the team emerges from the house. Naruto and his three clones, now in sage-mode, form the first level of protection around Gaara. The rest of the team takes their places silently, all knowing their jobs. Once the formation is complete, everyone waits silently for Kakashi's word.

"Alright, let's go." Before Kakashi could even get the last word out they were all running as one. Naruto ran without focusing on where he was going, instead he focuses on expanding his mind to sense even the slightest amount of chakra that might come close to the team.

Everyone ran swiftly and silently through the thin island forestry, heading west toward the docks. The night sky and the forest brush offered some concealment, but the moon and bright stars illuminate the night, like a dimly lit sun, setting the entire island alight. Once they reached the docks there would be no hiding their large group, the large amount of light would prove to be helpful and unhelpful as the night went on. After reaching the halfway point between the house and the docks, Naruto and all of his clones stiffen suddenly.

Kakashi notices the movement and calls out to Naruto, "What is it?" Naruto's eyes were beginning to widen with anger as he ran behind the clone carrying his friend.

"Their coming, and there's a lot of them, don't forget! They're only clones, keep moving to the docks no matter what! They waited to attack until we were too far in to turn back to the house. They want to take us all out right here." Naruto reports back to Kakashi. "They must not know who they're dealing with." Naruto spits with anger and determination in his voice.

"How many is a lot?" Kankuro asks.

"As many as I can make…" Naruto reports angrily. "We need to pick up the pace; we will meet them in about five minutes. Just plow through them and get to the docks!" Naruto's mind was spinning with the amount of chakra that was heading their way, and now building up behind them, they were surrounding them expecting them to stand and fight. He knew it was an illusion, clones were fairly easy to take out even in large numbers, but what made clones tricky was their ability to pass information to each other and their creator. They were constantly learning. The less they confronted the clones the better. Their mission was to get to the docks while fighting the least amount of them possible.

"Here they come, get ready." But no amount of warning had prepared the group for what met them. Although they didn't waver or stop moving, the group was surprised by the enemy that they were now facing. Emerging from the trees at the exact same moment all around them was thousands of themselves even clones of Gaara. Hannah screamed a bit when a Temari clone attacked her, she was facing her sensei and she hesitated. Naruto noticed the hesitation and sent a kuni into the clone and bringing Hannah back to her senses.

Without any further hesitation the group quickly forced their way toward the docks avoiding as many attacks as possible. When the end of the trees was finally in sight, the group all silently went over the second phase of their mission. Each one of them had a specific task to accomplish. Clones were covering the dock and blocking their way. Temari who still had point jumped clearing the rest of the beach and landing on the front of the dock. With her large fan she sent a surge of chakra filled wind that acted like large blades down the dock clearing the way for Naruto and Sakura to make their way to the ship with her brother. Temari, Kakashi, Hannah, and Kankuro formed the defensive line holding back the never ending swarms of clones as they tried to reach the docks. Immediately Naruto saw it, the large amounts of blood smearing the wood of the boat and the dead crewman that lay lifeless over the deck. Naruto could sense only a few clones on the ship and pointed out their locations to Sakura and the rest of his clones, as they swept the ship eliminating the enemy Naruto and the clone carrying Gaara stood watching the battle ensuing on the beach. The clones were getting more aggressive and smarter. Temari and Kankuro were on the outside of the line with Hannah and Kakashi in the Center on both ends of the dock. Their line was large and had gaping holes, but no clones had a chance to even get close.

The four were working together to keep the clones as far away as possible. Kakashi had used his water dragon jutsu as a long range attack, Hannah was sending sharp chakra blades from her fans, and Temari and Kankuro were using their regular techniques to keep the enemy far enough away to avoid and physical confrontations which was about all the clones could do. All the clones could manage to do were send countless kuni and shurikens at the line. The group was able to avoid them most of the time but occasionally one would catch them. Hannah took one hard in the shoulder and Kakashi thought she might break the line, but Hannah fought through the pain. "Naruto! It's all clear!" Sakura yelled as she emerged from the inner part of the ship.

Naruto motioned to the clone carrying Gaara and the clone ran back to the inner room and placed Gaara on his bed. Two clones stayed in the room with Gaara, one outside the door and the final took his place outside the outer door that granted access to the inner part of the ship. Sakura ran back down the dock and took Hannah's place next to Kakashi, who ran down the dock and took one clones place in guarding Gaara. Although the kuni was still in her shoulder, and two small shuriken were lodged in her leg, Hannah didn't allow herself to relax; she stood, directly behind the open door ready for anything. The clone she replaced runs out to the ship's deck just as Kankuro is pulling the sails down. The two clones, now on the ship's deck, jump and grab the ropes attached to the sail and tie them down on either side of the ship.

The two new normal clones Naruto summoned have cut the ships anchor off and are pushing the large ship a few meters off the dock. With the ship free and moving, Naruto dismisses the two new clones and yells at Temari to come, at the same time Naruto bites his finger to use the summoning technique for the first time to alert the toad brothers to get ready. Surprisingly Gamatasu appears. "Hey Naruto, oh whoops I wasn't supposed to come yet. Do you have anything to eat?" Gamatasu says, and then he looks down the dock and see's Kakashi and Sakura, who are now engaging countless clones in close combat. "That's not good… I'll go back." Gamatasu says without hearing Naruto's screams and protest about him messing up the plan. _Well at least Gamakichi will be ready. This really is a worst-case-scenario. _Kakashi and Sakura were holding the line, but just barely, by now Temari was running past Naruto and starting her jutsu to really get the ship moving. With the final swing of her massive fan, Temari lets loose a ferocious wind without her usually chakra blades and the white sails of the ship stretch to their full capacity and the boat lurches forward just as Temari leaps off the end of the dock to the ship where Kankuro helps her balance and stay on the ships edge. With one final look at the Sand siblings, now safe with their brother inside, Naruto turns to the mob of clones that threatened to break through with their new sense of panic at their targets escape.

Naruto quickly forms the hand signs and yells once more "Summoning Jutsu!" To everyone's surprise Naruto was lifted into the air much higher than expected as the chief toad appears below Gamakichi under Naruto's feet. Naruto begins to question the chief when he realizes his mouth is full with the toad oil he had asked the chief's son's to bring. Without further hesitation, Naruto yells: "Kakashi sensei, Sakura fall back!" while giving the orders Naruto forms more hand signs yelling "Wind style, Toad oil flame bullet!" just as Kakashi and Sakura fell behind the massive toad.

The chief toad releases a huge stream of toad oil which Naruto manipulates with his wind style attack to form a projectile at the charging clones, just before the oil impacts the enemy, Gamakichi uses his fire style to create a huge flame along the oil. They continue to sweep the beach until no remnants of the enemy remain. "Thank you, chief toad; by the way, what are you doing here?"

"Well after Gamatasu messed up and came over here early, he told us you were in a bit of trouble over here and could use some more help, so I took his spot on your ridiculous team. Naruto can we put out the fire in the forest so I can go home already, I've got better things to do." Looking around Naruto realized the chief was right, their attack had been so big, it had not only whipped out every clone in the forest, but it had set most of the western part of the forest on fire. Naruto quickly formed a few more hand signs and he and the chief toad used the same concept to create a water bullet instead and put out the flames. "Finally kid, you owe me big time for this one…" "Later Naruto!" Gamakichi called to Naruto as they both abruptly disappeared letting Naruto fall to the ground. "What'd you do that for you stupid toad!"


	8. Chapter 8

Restless Peace—Chapter 8

"Well it looks like we're in the clear for now…" Temari sighs to her brother. Looking at the scene from a distance might be even more spectacular. Watching Naruto summon such a creature and perform a jutsu with it was incredible. _He must really have a bad feeling about this if he summoned something that powerful._

"Tsk, how do you figure?" Kankuro answered. Temari looked around the sea that surrounded them and finally looked at her brother questioningly. "We are on a ship, with no escape, in the middle of the ocean, with our brother who was just drugged by his best friend, He Is Going To Be Pissed." He spoke the last word with bitter anticipation, Temari laughed in response.

"It may sound crazy, but I think I'd rather have him here angry at us than back on that island." Temari turned back to face the island as it faded into the distance. They had a good strong wind to carry them away and they were making good time. She could hardly see the huge billows of smoke caused by Naruto and his summon.

"Ya, it may be crazy, but I think I agree. Well in any case," Kankuro continued with a lighter tone, shrugging it off, "That clone already let the messenger bird go so we should be met by some Leaf ninja before too long. I hope they get here before Gaara wakes up…"

"How long do you think it will take them?" Temari asked as she walked to large crate to sit on. Kankuro joined her before answering. "Depends I guess."

"Depends on what?" Temari pressed.

"On whether or not your dashing boyfriend is with them, I'm sure he will come to your rescue faster than light itself." Kankuro finished mockingly. He didn't have much time to revel in his witty remark before Temari pushed him over the boat. Much to Temari's dismay a Naruto clone grabbed his hand halfway down the boat.

"Uhh… I know that Naruto left you to like 'protect' us and our little brother, but if I push my brother over the side of the boat, you don't have to intervene…" Temari explained with a smile. The clone smiled back and let go of Kankuro letting him fall into the cold water.

"Owww… that stupid toad, who does he think he is?" Naruto groans standing up.

"Are you two ok?" He looks to his friend and sensei. Both look uninjured and generally ok. Probably because Kakashi wouldn't have had a problem with the fight, and Sakura wasn't involved for as long.

"We're fine, that was really cool Naruto; I didn't know you could do that with your summons." Sakura replied enthusiastically.

"All right, well what do we do now?" Naruto says looking to his captain. Kakashi sighs, contemplating their next course of action. Nothing had been planned from here on out and it was only a matter of time before the enemy fled the island. Their only lead at the moment was the man who had greeted them in the village. So Kakashi decided to start there.

"Let's go find the village subordinate who greeted us when we arrived. You know, the one who acted the same way as the first clone." Kakashi prompted, sensing Naruto's confusion. "Then we'll see from there. The clone Naruto gave the note too will have sent word to Konoha and we should be getting some back up soon; but until then it's just us so don't do anything reckless." Kakashi and Sakura both turn to face Naruto.

"Bwahaha!" Temari laughs not expecting the clone to actually drop Kankuro.

"What's wrong? What was that noise?" Hannah runs out of the inner part of the ship ready for a fight; only to see her sensei laughing and perched on a crate just to her left.

"Oh nothing, Kankuro just wanted to go for a swim that's all!" Temari looks to Hannah for the first time since boarding the ship. Hannah was younger than the rest of them and it showed from the injuries she sustained with the clones. Hannah had only had a few months of real training with her after all, and it had been basic stuff. Hannah had apparently not relaxed a second since getting on the ship.

Temari felt a twinge of guilt for joking with her brother earlier while Hannah had been alert inside. Her clothes were torn in several places with small cuts underneath; nothing serious except for two shuriken that still protruded her thigh. She had a larger cut on her shoulder too. Temari and Kankuro hadn't been hit with any kuni but had been cut with a few shuriken too, but not near as often as Hannah had by the looks of it.

"Shoot, let's get those shuriken out of your leg and clean it up." Temari moved to her new student and sat down with her. She was by no means a medical ninja but everyone knew how to take care of basic wounds. She carefully removed the two small shuriken from Hannah's leg and cleaned the cuts left behind and the larger cut on her shoulder. Temari noticed that Hannah never stopped scanning the surroundings, watching the horizons as the sun began rising over the eastern sky from which they had just come from. Hannah was looking for threats, ready to spring into battle at any moment. Her whole body was tense and her muscles ready to react instantly. Temari looked into her students face and said

"Hannah relax, if you could have seen what Naruto did to all of those stupid clones you wouldn't be worried about any of them following us. They have plenty to deal with back on that island with those three there. Go down and rest for a while, me and Kankuro will keep watch with Naruto's clones until the leaf ninjas get here."

Hannah looked confused and a bit dejected, but she also looked exhausted, she had gone as long as Temari had without sleep but it was more than that. Temari realized this was probably the most important mission she had ever been on, and she hadn't been prepared for it.

"I'll be alright; I'm supposed to watch the Kazakage after all." Hannah retorted. At that time Kankuro began crawling over the ships rail and fell to the deck with a loud thump.

"Glad you could join us Kankuro. I was just telling Hannah that we would keep watch until the sand ninja get here because you slept till two in the afternoon yesterday anyway…" Kankuro's face turned from annoyed to disbelief. Just as he was about to protest he looked at his sister who was giving him that 'do what I say even though you don't want to' look. Looking past Temari he spots Hannah behind her and senses the same physical and mental exhaustion. Kankuro lets out a heavy sigh realizing he isn't going to get to sleep for a while before he repeats his sisters prompt for Hannah to get some rest.

Hannah feels bad for wanting to say 'ok' but looking into the faces of her teachers; she realizes they won't judge her needing rest. Her whole body was starting to hurt all over and she was feeling a little faint, so she decided to swallow her pride. "If that's really ok, I will go rest for just a little while." Temari and Kankuro both tell reassure her and she moves back to the door she came from.

As Hannah walks down the hallway, she passes her room, or the one that was her and Temari's when they came, and goes back into Gaara's room. He is still asleep as she looks at both of the clones standing between the door and the bed. They bore the same kind smile that Naruto always carried. It amazed her how not only did they match him perfectly in appearance; but they both held the same determination in their eyes as they stood protecting their friend. She had come into the room to remind them to watch out for Gaara, but the notion seemed dumb now, it would be like reminding Naruto himself. So instead, as she turned to go to her own room, Hannah jokes "Wake me if anything exciting happens!"

Hannah walked into her and Temari's room and sat on her bed, finally letting her body and mind relax, and leave her defensive state. The exhaustion she had been holding back overtook her and she collapsed back onto the hard bed. She could feel her heart beat in every cut she had received and the one on her shoulder throbbed so bad she wondered if it was moving her sheets. After scolding herself for letting such small injuries concern her, she closed her eyes and completely gave into her body's demand for rest.


	9. Chapter 9

Restless Peace—Chapter 9

Naruto moved closer to the edge of the tree limb he was positioned on to get a better look at the target. They had taken up positions around the house the subordinate lived at and were observing. Naruto thought they should take a more 'head on' approach, but Kakashi had decided to wait and observe to have a better idea of the enemy and give their backup time to arrive. Sakura had motioned that the target was in the house around ten minutes ago. Annoyed that he was still sitting around doing nothing while this creep who attacked his friends was in there Naruto edged forward again in anticipation. Naruto stopped after getting a look from Kakashi. Naruto was positioned in a tree directly in front of the house, Sakura was covering the back from a nearby rooftop, and Kakashi was about 50 meters to Naruto's right.

Naruto was feeling uneasy again, the whole time they had been in position, or in the village for that matter, he hadn't seen a single villager. The day they had all arrived the place had been alive with people, shops were busy, and children played in the yards. But today not a whisper of life was present. Could all of the villagers been clones? Had the plot to replace Gaara gone so deep into this place that the village itself had been fake? As Naruto contemplated the possibility, he decides to check for chakra. Becoming perfectly still even in the awkward position in the tree, Naruto quickly and silently balances the tree chakras in his body and opens his eyes in sage-mode.

Immediately after completing the technique, Naruto senses everyone's chakra around him. "Ghaa!" Naruto jumps from his position to a tree between him and Kakashi, a clone's chakra had been coming at him from behind. But the tree was still and vacant. He focused his mind again to search for the chakra but what he found confused him. He sensed the chakra right on the tree he had just come from, but no one was there. He also sensed a clones chakra coming from behind Kakashi and called out to him.

"Kakashi, there's clone chakra coming from that tree and right behind you!" Kakashi gives Naruto a tired look before lifting his headband opening his left eye. Looking behind him Kakashi senses the chakra too, and jumps to the tree Naruto is on. They stand back to back, Naruto facing the clone chakra on his tree, and Kakashi his.

Both of the tree's appear empty, "Kakashi sensei, is it genjutsu?" Naruto asks not taking his eyes off the tree.

"No, it's the same chakra all of the other clones had, and there is no disruption is your chakra. There are two clones here, we just can't see them." Sakura joins them in time to hear Kakashi.

"Are you serious, so first they make clones of us, then they make invisible clones?" Sakura. "Who the hell are these people?"

"Not people, person." While trying to figure out the invisible clones, the target had left his house and stood facing them in the empty street. Kakashi and his team drop from the trees to face their opponent.

Temari and Kankuro stood on the ship's deck keeping their eyes open for any threat. It had been quiet ever since leaving the island, but they couldn't truly relax until the leaf ninja arrived as an escort. Although neither of the sand siblings would admit it, they were both worried about team Kakashi back on the island. They had planned every part of their plan on a worst-case-scenario basis, and they had still been surprised.

Whoever had organized the attack on Gaara had managed to create as many clones as Naruto was able to conjure, and had made them clones of their party. Temari had never heard of someone making a clone of another person. There was genjutsu, that could change a person's perspective; but Kakashi would have been able to see through it. She couldn't help but wonder what the team was facing back on that island in order to protect Gaara.

"Temari look!" Kankuro interrupted her thoughts and brought her back from the island far behind them and back to the ship. Kankuro was motioning for her to look to the sky, high above them flew three massive birds. They weren't normal birds, but ink creations, Sai's signature.

"It's Sai!" Kankuro yelled. The two Naruto clones on the deck turned their heads to the sky to see as well. "Sai! What's up!" One of the clones yelled! As if in response a much smaller ink bird appears and flew up to Temari and landed at her feet. Kankuro and the clones gathered around the bird as it melted into a message from Sai, who had already passed the ship and flew strait toward the island. "They must not want to waste time stopping." Temari thought aloud.

The message settled and said, "Ship carrying Leaf ninja right behind us to escort Kazakage and team to Konoha."

"Well that was to the point…" Kankuro scoffed, with a laugh.

"Have you met Sai?" One of the Clones responded and they all laughed.

"I wonder if Hannah is feeling better." A clone finally said after the laughter had died.

"I think she'll be fine, she just had one bad cut on her shoulder; and I'm sure the escort will include a medical ninja. They will take care of it when they get here. She was mostly tired."

Temari said looking back to the door that led to where Hannah and Gaara slept. "Let's let her rest until they get here, then the medical ninja can check her out."

"I wonder how far away they are? Granny Tsunade moved quickly. Hey!" the Naruto clone ran to and up the ships mast avoiding ropes and climbed into the ships lookout. "I wonder if I can see them from up here!" Climbing past the lookout the clone stood atop the highest pole and put his hand over his eyes as he gazed over the calm waters.

Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi stood in a triangle formation with Sakura facing the man in the street; and Kakashi and Naruto facing the clone chakra.

"The man of who you speak, the man who creates these," the man spoke raising his hands to the two trees which Naruto and Kakashi faced, "Is Zutara, the Master of Clones!"

"Are we supposed to know who that is or what?" Naruto growled at the man without taking his eyes off the tree where he sensed the clones chakra lingering.

"You should, you copy his technique!" The man responded angrily pointing at Naruto.

"What'r you talking about, stop tryin to mess with my head and tell us why you attacked Gaara!" Naruto spat back at the man turning to meet his gaze. As he did the man was taken aback for a moment, looking into Naruto's eyes with a cross formed from the sage-mode mixed with his demon hatred. Kakashi sensed the anger building in Naruto.

"That doesn't concern you; you should worry about yourself first!" As the man finished his threat, the clone chakra that Naruto and his sensei faced charged out of the trees and at the team. Naruto summoned a clone and quickly formed a rasengan, and Kakashi almost instantly brought up his lightning blade and the two ran to meet the invisible clones in battle. Sakura swiftly crossed the space between herself and the man engaged him, the man moved faster than she did but her large scale attacks kept him in range. Neither Naruto or Kakashi made contact with their enemy's when they should have. Naruto thought he had passed right through them, but when looking closer saw that the clone had used the instant when Naruto had been more focused on this own jutsu than to the clones chakra to change directions and land on a nearby tree. Just as Naruto was able to relocate the clone a large burst of fire erupted from the spot. Naruto dodged the attack with no room to spare.

Kakashi was facing the same problem, although he was able to focus on the enemy's chakra while performing a jutsu, he had no idea when it would attack with a jutsu of its own. Since the enemy was a clone, its chakra didn't fluctuate when forming a jutsu, the amount of chakra he used was pulled directly from its creator meaning it didn't need to build up chakra; therefore there was no way to anticipate an attack or the severity of that attack.

_If I could use a clone to keep track of the stupid guy, then maybe I would be able to hit him, but I can only keep four of us in sage-mode at a time. I still have three clones in sage mode with Gaara. If they haven't been dismissed yet, that means the Konoha escort hasn't reached them yet. I can't risk letting them go to use them here, they may need them. I'll just have to try and focus harder to keep track of him; I just need another pair of eyes!_


	10. Chapter 10

Restless Peace—Chapter 10

"I see something!" The Naruto yelled from atop his lookout position. Temari and Kankuro had been waiting on the ship's deck ever since Sai had flown by. Nothing eventful had happened, Gaara was still asleep, and they hadn't heard Hannah wake up either. It had been pretty quiet, so the clone's voice made Kankuro jump.

Temari looked in the direction the clone was pointing; and sure enough floating on the horizon was a ship. This ship was not adorned with any special flag or elaborates wood working; it was built for speed and had served its purpose. They had been traveling since their escape from the island at around midnight last night and it was now four in the afternoon from the look of the sun. It would be a full day before their ship would be able to make it back to the land of fire.

As the ship drew nearer, Temari and Kankuro could see several figures on its deck. The boat had several sailors running around manipulating the sails and doing specific duties. It even had a captain steering, their boat had been steered by a Naruto clone… It was only then that Kankuro realized how bad that could have been and how lucky they were not to be in the middle of nowhere. The ship's crew dropped its anchor and the leaf ninja boarded the boat carrying the Kazakage and his family.

The first to cross to the other ship was Shikamaru, who goes immediately to Temari's side. Despite her best efforts to hide it, she was really glad he was here. Kankuro smirked at being right on the money about him coming to her aid like some kinda knight or something when he noticed the next two people boarding the ship.

_Oh great, it's that crazy guy and his lookalike student…_ Kankuro thought as they both enthusiastically walked to him and began rambling about performing their duties in record time and how it was good training or something. The rest of Shikamaru's team came over now, Ino and Choji.

"Ino is a medical ninja, and Lady Hokage thought she should take a look at the Kazakage." Shikamaru reported to the group. "Were any of you hurt during the, well whatever happened?"

"Don't worry we'll fill you in on the details after she's seen Gaara." Temari answered, looking to the door the led into the ship.

"Hannah had a couple of cuts, I cleaned them pretty well but I'm not a medic, she has been sleeping since we left."

Ino gave a quick nod, and tried to look confident. She wasn't anywhere near the level of Sakura yet, but she could handle this. Temari, Shikamaru and Ino walked into the hallway and walked to the farthest door that was Gaara's. They were met by the two clones of Naruto's, still in sage-mode guarding Gaara. Shikamaru scoffed, "Man, Naruto is able to keep clones together this far from him…"

"Sorry but we gotta ask you both a question before you can go to the Kazakage." The Naruto closest to Gaara says. Shikamaru looks at Temari questioningly, and she reassures him. After confirming the identity of both Ino and Shikamaru, Temari tells the clones it is ok to leave now. The clones look at one another, then Gaara unsure.

"We are fine here, Naruto may need the extra chakra and we know he will want to know that Gaara's escort is here." The clones contemplate Temari's words for a moment more looking one last time at their friend before telling everyone to look after one another and disappearing into two billows of smoke.

Temari passed through the clearing smoke to where her brother slept, he looked peaceful. She briefly thought about how upset he would be when he woke, but at the moment he was safe, and that was all that mattered. She did not regret their decision and was secretly thankful to Naruto for his actions. She would have to make a point to try and protect Gaara's and Naruto's friendship.

Shikamaru moved to Temari's side and Ino moved to the opposite side of the bed and began. The familiar green glow of chakra surrounded her hands as she moved them to hover over the Kazakage. After a couple of minutes Ino moved her hands back to her sides and smiled at Temari who was anxiously waiting for her report.

"He is fine, he didn't have any adverse reaction to the anesthesia Naruto gave him." Temari had to stop herself from sighing in relief, but Ino's next words made Temari even more anxious. "Honestly, he should wake up any time!" Ino said the words with a smile, but Temari lightly chuckled and quickly took charge.

"Okay then! He's good, now we better get out of here, I don't think he is going to be very happy when he wakes up and I don't know about you but I don't want to around about that time." Shikamaru gave an amused sigh. "Good point, lets head back up top and let you guys brief us on the situation.

Ino followed Shikamaru out and Temari linger only a moment to look down once more at her brother. There never seemed to be a moment when Gaara was not in danger, and it was her job as the oldest to keep her family safe; and with a small smile she realized, she didn't have to bear the job herself. Over the years Gaara had made friends like Naruto Uzumaki who wanted to protect him just as she did. And now in a time of need, these friends had come to help her keep him safe.

When she reached the top of the stairs and walked up on deck, Temari realized the leaf boat had brought enough crew members to take care of their ship as well. The crew was busy doing taking care of things leaving all of the ninja time to sit and go over what had happened.

Naruto felt the surge in his chakra when the clones on the ship disappeared. He saw everything they had seen as if it had been him and saw that everyone was ok. Things were going according to plan there, but here things had gotten tricky. He and Kakashi sensei were still engaging the two invisible clones, and Sakura was after the original target. Naruto didn't know how the other two were fairing because he had his own hands full. He hadn't been able to get a solid hit on this guy so far and had had more than one close call. One piece of valuable information he gathered from his clones was that Sai and two others were on their way to back them up.

"Kakashi sensei! Sai is coming to back us up and the escort from the Konoha reached Gaara's ship!" This was good news to Kakashi too, Sai would be able to reach them quickly which meant that they just needed to stay on the defensive until they arrived and could engage the enemy. Kakashi moved back closer to Naruto and Sakura followed suit and fell back too.

"We need to conserve our chakra and keep them here until Sai arrives. I do not think they will retreat, because their mission is also to eliminate us, just as ours is to eliminate them." Kakashi explained to his team. They stood in a line facing the targets. The village subordinate was standing in between the two masses of chakra that Kakashi and Naruto could detect forming a line of their own.

The village subordinate laughed as he began to speak again, "You have mastered his jutsu well."

"And just who is this 'master of clones' you keep rambling on about anyway?" Naruto yelled back.

"Zutara was named after his Grandfather, the man who invented the multi-shadow clone jutsu." The man sneered. "He created the jutsu as a means to protect Konoha in case of war. But the world was in so called peace at the time and the second Hokage deemed it forbidden jutsu. When Zutara voiced his disbelief in the peace between the villages he was ignored. So he left the village to let it revel in its 'peace' while it lasted. He moved to this island where he continued his work in secret. He called a rouge ninja and a price was put on his head, all for disbelieving in a false peace. He was able to create new more powerful clones and experimented with their power on those sent to eliminate him."

Naruto listened to the man speak and recognized the familiar hatred in his voice. "When Zutara was killed, no one knew he had a son, or for that matter a grandson to carry on his work. The so called peace killed Zutara and soon after his son, leaving his grandson alone on this island, banished from society." The man looked far away lost in memories as he continued. "And now, the five great nations celebrate a time of 'true peace'." The man growled in anger with the last phrase.

"There is no such peace! You all fool yourselves! Your peace makes war for others, villages crumble and disappear, and families are ripped apart for what? For a couple of years that the great nations can pretend to trust one another until some petty reason brings them back to war. And those who realize this are labeled a threat to their precious 'peace' and are disregarded. He will bring down your precious peace. As soon as one nation is seen as a threat, all of the ties of trust will be severed between them. And the world will once again fall into chaos, that is the world's true form, untrusting and willing to fight. And this will all start with you, and that Kazakage. Konoha and all of the other hidden villages will be brought to their knees and the true peace will finally reign." As the man finished his speech the two unseen clones lurched forward to let out their creator's fury.

Gaara felt his body regaining consciousness and tried to reenter reality and separate it from his dreams. He opened his eyes slowly, staring straight up at the wooden ceiling. He could feel a faint sway and could hear the ocean, he recognized where he was; He was on the ship they had come on to get to the island. But why was he here? As soon as the thought entered his mind, the events flooded back to him. Naruto had protected him from an unknown threat and then insisted he retreat back to the land of fire. Gaara had refused and then, oh yes, Naruto had come back down and given him some shot, and that was all he could remember.

So he was back on the ship, meaning Naruto had taken advantage of Gaara's state to force him to leave the island. He was going to have to remind him that he was the Kazakage… Sitting up, his body was still heavy from the long slumber. He briefly wondered how long he had been out. Moving to the edge of the bed, Gaara more closely observed his surroundings. Next to his bed sat his gourd of sand, there was signs of people coming and going from his room recently. In between the door and the bed was a small pool of dried blood, and a kuni which had been tossed into the corner also covered with dried blood. That meant two things, one, they had met resistance getting to the ship and someone had been injured; two, they had been on the ship long enough that the blood had had time to completely dry which meant they were a fair distance away from the island.

Standing up, Gaara moved to the door and into the hallway. He could hear the voices of his brother and sister above, and others he couldn't make out. As soon as he opened the door and moved out onto the deck above his eyes began adjusting to the sun. Everyone stopped talking immediately at the surprise of his presence. He looked around at each of their anxious faces. Temari and Kankuro knew what was coming and was braced for it. As upset as he was he decided now was not the time to show it. Many leaf ninja were on the ship with his siblings, Rock Lee and his sensei, Ten-ten, and Shikamaru's team were all in a circle speaking. Kankuro was the first to speak, "Hey Gaara, glad you finally woke up!" he said with a forced laugh.

Temari sent a glare that matched his own in Kankuro's direction before speaking, "How do you feel?" She spoke gently, whether out of concern or fear, he didn't know but he disregarded the question either way.

"What happened, who was injured?" Gaara spoke clearly, demanding the truth. Temari looked down not knowing what to say. Finally after sending a pleading look at Kankuro who didn't speak she began.

"After Naruto drugged you," She began with an exaggerated roll of her eyes, "Kakashi took over and decided because you had been rendered defenseless, and our top priority had to be to get you off the island." She paused expecting him to comment, but he stayed quiet not wanting to lash out at her and let out his anger at her, he knew it wasn't her fault she was just the unwilling messenger.

She continued after he didn't respond, "Kakashi formulated a plan and we set off immediately. But after we got about halfway to the docks we were confronted with thousands of clones, of ourselves. It was too late to turn back and we pressed on fighting our way to the docks. Fortunately Kakashi had planned the mission on a worst-case-scenario basis and we were able to get through it, cause that was what we met." She wanted to stop there, not going into more detail but he continued to look at her and she knew he expected more. After a short sigh, she continued.

"After we reached the docks Naruto and his clones, carried you onto the ship with Sakura, they cleared the ship while the rest of us formed a defensive line fighting off the clones. We were able to keep the clones at a fair distance and all they were able to do was attack us with kuni and shuriken. Hannah was the only one with any kind of injury, and that was just a couple of shuriken to her leg and a larger cut to her shoulder. The rest of us just had couple of smaller cuts. Anyway, After Kankuro, Hannah, and myself got on the ship and made it out a ways away from the island; Naruto summoned his toad and used a combined attack to get rid of the rest of the clones as we got away. He left four clones with us on the ship until the escort," she spoke regarding the leaf ninja, "arrived and then we dismissed them."

He took a moment to take in all she had said before speaking, "Where is Hannah?"

"She is down below, she was pretty exhausted after the fight and Kankuro and I let her rest." Temari answered carefully. As if on cue, Ino, who looked very anxious to leave, got up and spoke timidly.

"Speaking of, I promised Temari I would redress her cuts after we let Hannah rest a while, so I'll just go… now." Ino got up but acted like she was afraid to walk past him to get to the door. "Uh..Ten-Ten, would you come help me?" Ino looked down at her friend who was giving her a panicked look before she got up and they both moved around Gaara at a fair distance and walked down stairs leaving the door open.

Ino's heart was beating way too fast and as soon as she and Ten-Ten moved into Hannah's room it started beating much faster. The adrenaline started pumping through her veins causing her to observe her own personal nightmare in a matter of seconds. Hannah was not lying peacefully asleep like Gaara had been, her sheets were covered in sweet and blood, and she was breathing way too fast. She appeared to be asleep but her eyes were wide open with panic. "NOOO!" Ino screamed as she ran to her bedside.

Ten-Ten gasped with horror at the sight as if to emphasize the situation. _No, no, no this can't be happening, this was supposed to be simple, come, make sure Naruto didn't give Gaara too much anesthesia and go home, I'm not ready for this._ Ino began her inspection as everyone poured into the room behind her; she didn't have time to answer any of their questions so she just blocked them out. In her mind she began assessing the situation, she was looking right into Hannah's eyes but Hannah gave no signs of seeing her. Even as she shined her small light into her eyes her pupils gave no response.

She looked at her sheets once more and saw the blood was coming from her shoulder. Ino quickly pulled back the sheets and the bandages Temari had applied and looked hopelessly at the site. The cut was blood red, and the surrounding skin was black and purple like it was heavily bruised, the veins leading to it were large and pulsing. Ino recognized the signs immediately which added to her panic. This was poison, and a bad one.

It had been slow acting and neither Temari nor Hannah would have been able to recognize it. But now it was attacking Hannah at full force. She had never seen or treated anything this bad, she was not particularly good at treating poisons anyway and even if she were she had been sent out immediately after returning from another mission and hadn't brought any remedies, also they were in the middle of the ocean and she had nowhere to get the things needed.

Temari had moved beside her and was kneeling trying to get a response from her student. She didn't know how to tell Temari there was nothing she could do, she knew enough to know that Hannah didn't have much time and would never last the boat ride back. She couldn't give up yet, she had to do something. "You said she got hit with a kuni in the shoulder! Where is it?" She yelled at no one in particular, but her voice must have relayed her own sense of urgency because someone behind her ran out of the room and quickly returned handing her the knife. She brought her medical chakra up and quickly inspected the poison that was left on the knife and in Hannah's wound.

She quickly confirmed her own worst fears; the poison was very strong, too strong for her to know how to fight; and she couldn't even try to slow the poison's effects because she didn't have any herbs to make remedies. She was helpless. _No, surely I can do something, _She thought desperately. _What would Sakura do? Or Lady Hokage? Ok, first I will work on the wounds as best I can and report to Temari. _She had moved back to kneel beside Hannah's bed again and was doing what she could, but she could feel Temari's eyes on her and everyone in the room had fallen silent.

"Temari, I'm so sorry," She began, refusing to look her in the eyes.

"What do you mean? What are you saying?" Temari's desperate voice caused her to cringe away and a tear to escape.

"The poison is really bad, I, I can't do anything!" Her voice begged them to understand, for them not to blame her. "The only people capable of fighting this are Lady Tsunade, Shizune, and Sakura!" She was openly crying over Hannah now, "Even on our ship it's a half a day's journey back to the village, and she won't last that long… I can't even slow it down; I don't have any kind of herbs or remedies out here! I'm so sorry, Temari I'm so sorry!"


	11. Chapter 11

Restless Peace—Chapter 11

"I'm so sorry." Ino kept repeating as she worked over Hannah, whose eyes stared into nothing and her lungs gasped for air that could not provide what she needed. I watched as my fury grew, not at the young medical ninja or anyone else, but rather at the cruel turn of events that had befallen Hannah. Temari tuned with a pleading expression and I saw something I have only seen on rare occasion. Temari was crying softly for her student.

We had all grown to love Hannah during the time she had spent with us in the sand village. She had worked hard for Temari and never once complained about her harsh training; She had been a great sparring partner to Kankuro and had always made him laugh at her determination even after losing multiple times. And to me she had been an invaluable friend, it seemed as though anytime things got hard being the Kazakage, Hannah would find me and say exactly what I needed to hear to push forward. I felt ashamed that I had never told her this, that I would never get to thank her for her kind words; Or tell her how much she had meant to him…

Immediately I reached a decision, I would not allow Hannah to die. I moved past the silent group and up to the bed where I got my first good look at Hannah's state. She was terribly pale; the site where the poison entered was gruesome and threatening. Her body was drenched in sweat, and her eyes searched the room for something, anything to hold onto, to pull herself out of this state.

Temari was looking up at him hopefully, and yet hopelessly at the same time. I gently took Hannah's hand in my own and felt her frantic heart beat yearning for help, desperately fighting a hopeless battle. I squeezed Hannah's hand gently before letting go and leaving the room. Walking quickly down the hallway and into my own room I picked up my gourd and strapped it to my back.

As I walked back into Hannah's room I said nothing, there was nothing to say… Temari and Ino both moved away from him as I knelt down and gently slipped my arm under her head and my other under her knees. Lifting her from the bed, I was met by protests from the group. They all understood what I planned to do, and only Kankuro and Temari stayed silent. They knew I would not waver from my decision.

I walked up the stairs and out onto the deck, and the group followed silently. My siblings must have told them to shut up after I left. I looked down at Hannah's face as her head turned to face mine, but not seeing. Her hand found my chest and held on as if he were her lifeline. I quickly summoned my sand to create a hovering platform which I stepped onto as Ino called out to me. "Don't let her fall asleep, or I don't think…" She stopped short, not able to finish. But everyone knew what she had meant. If she fell asleep again, she wouldn't wake up.

The unseen clones charged at our team once more and this time they had the same fury as their creator. We had nothing to do but retreat. But we were too slow. With a normal opponent we would have been able to see them begin to attack but without being able to see the subtle movements we never thought about, this was proving to be a difficult fight.

Sakura had the worst reaction time, not even being able to see their chakra. I lunged for Sakura just as a large billow of flames formed from apparent nothingness and came right at us. I cringed as I grabbed Sakura and jumped away knowing it wouldn't matter. All I could try to do was shield Sakura from the flames as best I could; but the flames never came. I turned, surprised, to see three figures standing in the clearing smoke.

"Sorry we're late." A familiar cocky voice said.

"Perfect timing really." Kakashi answered. As the smoke settled I could see Sai, Neji, and Hinata in between our line and the unseen foes. _So, Granny Tsunade sent us these three, man, she was right on the money. With Neji and Hinata's Byakugans, this is going to be a lot easier._

The three moved back to where Kakashi, Sakura, and I stood.

"Alright," Kakashi began, "As I'm sure the two of you can see, we are facing two physically invisible clones, and one other. The two clones use long range attacks and we haven't seen what the other guy can do yet. We will work in pairs, Neji and I will go after one clone, and Naruto and Hinata will take out the other." As Kakashi finishes talking to Sakura and Sai; I look reassuringly at Hinata who looks unsure.

"Ah yeah! This will be a piece of cake!" I say. Hinata nodded her head back at me and quickly moves behind the clone closest to us. With two people to deal with, the clone became slower and easier to keep track of. Falling into synch together, Hinata and I are able to maneuver in ways to push the clone into one another's attacks.

While the clone fights Hinata, I summon two clones to create a rasengan shuriken which I throw at the clone. Hinata moves out of the way just before impact and meets me on a tree branch.

Breathing heavily I gasp I out, "That's it, that's got to be it." Out of Sage-mode, after the large attack, I look at Hinata.

"No, he's still there… I don't know how, I saw you hit it, but he's still there." Hinata looks at him apologetically as she too gasped out the words.

"Cum on! You've just got to be kidding me! I've got better things to do than fighting these stupid clones!"

"That's it, Neji!" Hinata cried out knowing he would hear her. As quickly as she had called, Neji appeared. "Have you had any luck with your clone?"

"No," Neji reluctantly admitted. "Kakashi and I have both connected with them, but they appear to be able to endure much more than regular clones."

"But that's just it! They are just clones!" As Hinata finished, our clone shot off a fireball causing us to retreat further to another tree.

"What're you talkin about? They're not _just _clones or otherwise they would have been gone before you guys got here." I growled annoyed.

"But no matter how different they are from normal clones, the concept is still the same; they are created and maintained from a different person. If we can just cut them off from their chakra source they should cease to exist! Right?" Hinata looked hopefully from Neji to me, as I grabbed her on the shoulders and yelled, "Hinata you're a genius!" before turning to face Neji, who nodded and smiled before jumping back to help Kakashi.

Sakura panted, as she faced her enemy. He was really starting to irritate and I have been working together perfectly, but our enemy was strong and fast. We had gotten off some small attacks on him and he on them, but neither side much making any headway.

I saw Naruto and the others fall back for a moment to formulate a plan B, and they had left looking confident. Now it was our turn to take care of buissness here. Sai and I had a pretty easy time communicating non-verbaly, so it was easy to see that he was on the same track as I was. It was time to switch approaches and get this done.

Instead of going along with our previous approach of holding back and trying to capture our enemy, Sai and I both kicked it up into a new gear. Now we were switching to eliminating the enemy if possible. Our target had not been ready for this switch and the seconds we gained by his surprise was his undoing.

Because in those few seconds I attacked with speed instead of force, hitting him with multiple small but powerful punches that sent him into a tree. As soon as the opportunity arose, Sai used a snake ink monster to bind our target to the tree he had fallen into.

Just as we felt we had our target secured, we both turned to see Neji and Hinata attacking with their gentle fist and block off the clone's flow of chakra. With no chakra coming in to maintain the two clones, they both let off a cloud of smoke where their unseen forms had been.

_This pain, I've never felt such pain. _Hannah thought as she tried to escape the prison her mind had become. I stood there, in my own mind looking around for any comfort, any protection from the pain. Nothing makes sense, one moment I had been checking on Gaara and laying down for a rest; then the next my very heart began bringing unimaginable pain with every beat.

The blood that ran through my body was like searing water attacking each cell over and over. I wasn't able to move, or even scream. No scream could even do it justice. Then I lost all of my senses of sight and sound. Although I was still aware of the smell of the mixture of sweat and blood that covered me. And of course, I could still feel the pain.

Oh this pain, surely it couldn't last forever, there had to be a way to make it go away. There was no apparent escape, as I wandered in the darkness with nothing but the pain to remind me I was alive. I 'm so tired, surely it wouldn't hurt if I fall asleep, surely dreams would drive away the real nightmare I have entered… Some ominous felling accompanies the notion of sleep, but I don't think I can endure this anymore, not alone. I decide the feeling was my imagination, sleep would bring peace, make the pain disappear. I feel a faint breeze through the pain, it's so nice, I try to focus on the wind in my hair and whatever it is I feel my hand so foolishly grasping. As I close my eyes, I prepare to welcome the refuge sleep will surely bring.

Gaara pushed his sand faster as he flew above the waves as they raced west toward the barely visible setting sun. The helplessness I felt as I looked down at Hannah angered me. None of my words would reach her and help her hold on. It seemed like so long ago now, that we had been back in the sand village. A regular day for Hannah had been to wake before most; as soon as she would wake she would go and train whatever her and Temari had worked on the day before. I had observed through her training that Hannah worked the same way Naruto did, always thinking of others first.

She had the same instinct to protect others even in battle, but unlike Naruto she didn't have the recuperative abilities to make up for it. She would train until the end of the day in which she would either find Matsuri, who she had befriended, or spar with Kankuro. I had trained her when I had the time, on defense and she had been just as great of student as Temari had bragged.

Times have been stressful since the war, peace has brought new responsibilities. I had anticipated them, but it was still hard being a young Kazakage in the first ever great ninja alliance, and maintaining the friendships after the threat was gone has proven difficult.

Hannah's friendship with my people always encouraged me and helped me hold onto the hope for the peace to go on. And now, when she needed me the most, all I could do was watch her endure this, and try to get her help before it was too late.

I look down at Hannah again, her head turns to face the stars, eyes still wide as if she is in shock. Her hand gently grips my shirt, then as I look down at her, Hannah shifts in my arms. Her head rolls into my arm facing my body, and I can feel her grip on him loosening. Her eyes begin to further gloss as her breathing slows.

"Hannah!" I yell, she was falling asleep! Giving in and surrendering her body's losing battle. What could I do? I had to help her fight, but didn't know how. As I looked around for any sign of what to do, the land of fire comes into view on the horizon. It mockingly approaches as both a near end, and an impossible task. She was giving in! I was so close, yet I was losing her.

I pushed the sand forward willing it to go faster, but it's going faster than I have ever gone. I moved a pillar of sand to replace my arm holding up her head and moved it to rest it on Hannah's weakening hand. I hold her hand there forcing her to maintain the grip. I look straight into her eyes as I speak, "Hannah you have to hold on, you have to fight! We are close, it will be over soon, but until then you have to fight." Hannah's eyes flutter a moment before closing.

Naruto and Hinata finish off their clone moments before Kakashi and Neji; afterward they all four met Sai and Sakura where they stood with the captured enemy. "All right, I have wasted enough time with your stupid clones, and won't waste anymore waiting for you to talk. We'll skip right to making you talk." Kakashi rolled his eyes as he watched him march up to the target threateningly.

"Now, tell us where to find this Zutara, or whatever his name is. I'm gonna finish this right now!" The guy laughs in my face, and that really makes me mad. I knew the guy could see my eyes change to blood red with deep slits.

"Well that is interesting, you are the leaf jinchuuriki. You are a friend of the Kazakage then?" the man looked at me as if I were no threat, but was very interested.

"Yeah, that's right, and if you mess with him you mess with me! Get it!" I yelled into the man's face pulling him by his clothes to meet my gaze. When the man didn't respond I pushed him back into the tree hard. I'm ready to take this guy out by the time Kakashi speaks.

"If you mess with Naruto, you will have the leaf village to deal with, and if you choose to attack the leaf village, you will have the entire shinobi alliance to deal with. Are you ready for that?" Kakashi said behind us, placing a calming hand on my shoulder.

"Oh yes, I believe I am." The man says before disappearing into a familiar smoke.

_What is that? Why is someone yelling at me? Don't they understand? I just want to sleep, to make this pain go away._ As Hannah laid there alone in her own mind, her own dark reality, she could hear someone; someone telling her to fight through the pain. But I had fought hadn't I? I had completed my mission; I had protected Gaara, the Kazakage, my friend. I could now die how I had always hopped, protecting a friend.

But why did they keep yelling at me to fight? Fighting out of the prison my mind had become, I could feel myself slipping back into my body. Regaining the full extent of my senses, by the grip someone has on my hand. Ah yes, I remember grabbing something like an anchor to the world. And now someone was holding me down too. And for a few precious moments all I could feel is the cool touch of someone's hand on mine, pleading with me to stay and fight. Then the pain flooded me again and I start screaming.

If I had been surprised when Hannah opened her eyes again and strengthened her grip on me; I was totally unprepared for the small peaceful smile that was followed by an anguished scream. I knew she had heard me and was fighting to stay with me. But in doing so she had broken her last defense against the pain and retreated from her mind back to the harsh reality. I cringed and grasped her hand more urgently as I raced against time across the first trees of the land of fire.


	12. Chapter 12

Restless Peace—Chapter 12

"You Have Got To Be Kidding Me!" Naruto screamed into the disappearing smoke. It had just been a clone all along. I punched the tree the clone had been restrained to and it fell to the ground with a mighty crash. My anger didn't diminish, and not long ago I know this would have caused me to lose control.

"Calm down Naruto, he still had to be dealt with." Kakashi lectured me. "The actual person who casted the clones may have never even been here or perhaps he used the confusion with the clones while we tried to get Gaara off the island as an opportunity to escape." Somehow this doesn't calm me…

"We can probably trust what he said about the man Zutara, the clone acted as though there was no reason not to tell the truth because he believed he had a sure victory." Neji says.

"I'm sorry Naruto, we'll find him. And Gaara's ok, we passed their ship on our way here." Hinata says to calm me. As I look at the fallen tree my mind wanders across the ocean to my friends and I wonder how Gaara had taken things. Surely he was awake now. Hinata has said exactly what I need to hear to calm down. And not only that, but I can't help but calm myself at her voice. I don't like giving into anger around her, not since last time…

Sai drew three large birds again and we each climb on and fly back toward home.

I forced myself to think and plan ahead despite my urgency. I know no one would be expecting me; Konoha had been hit hardest because of the war but they had recovered swiftly. I don't know if their regular forces have been restored yet and don't know if I can count on a lookout spotting us. All that is certain is that I won't stop for anything, I was so close. Hannah is still holding onto me with everything she has left, just as I was holding onto her hand wishing I could relief some of her pain.

I expected the pain to intensify, but I didn't anticipate the extent. But I did hear him calling out to me, though the pain, telling me to keep fighting. Somehow I know it's him, he's the one with me know. I don't think I could hold on or fight for so long if it was anyone else. Gaara was telling me to fight, and so I would fight as long and hard as I could bear. I know that Gaara has been through such pain and made it through. Not physical pain like this, but other pain all through his childhood; and if he could endure that, I would endure this if he asked me to. If for no other reason than to have the chance to tell him I was sorry for his pain; and to make sure he never felt such pain again, I couldn't bear watching someone go through this after feeling it. I will endure it for him if I have to. I will fight through this and become strong for Gaara and his siblings, and protect them from such pain.

Just as I decide this, the pain intensifies as if to break my resolve. As I fight back the pain I force my screaming mouth shut to endure in silence so that Gaara won't have to suffer along with me. Instead the pain escapes by tears gently flowing from my eyes as I stare into nothing. I feel Gaara tighten his grip on my hand and I know I have to make it through this somehow.

I don't know what to think when Hannah suddenly stops screaming and instead begins silently crying. I know her silence is merely an illusion of less pain that she is enduring. I can see the village in the distance, if I could push my sand any faster I would, but the sand is moving at full speed. I fly right over the village walls knowing I wouldn't alarm anyone because; no one else was able to manipulate sand, they would know it was me. I race strait for the familiar building in the heart of the village. I descend down to the base of the building where I see the Hokage is running out to meet me, no doubt alerted of our presence.

Tsunade has a questioning look on her face that falls away as she sees Hannah in my arms. There is neither time nor reason to explain and the Hokage knows this. Tsunade quickly orders me to follow her and fiercely instructs a nearby ninja to find her assistant.

As we race to the hospital the Hokage asks questions about Hannah's condition. "How long has it been since the poison was introduced?" I didn't know what time exactly but Temari had said we had left the house at around midnight so this is what I tell her. She replies with a stiff nod. As we enter the hospital, the staff has no doubt been alerted that the Hokage was coming with a patient, but they are surprised by my presence. We both blow past the front counter and down the right hallway into a waiting operating room.

Tsunade's assistant has already arrived and prepped for us. "Hannah was injected with the poison twenty-four hours ago, it appears to be a long acting poison designed to torture the victim slowly before killing them. We don't have much time." Tsunade finishes her report and Shizune motions for me to set Hannah down on the table. It's foolish, but a part of me that didn't want to let her go. I felt that if he let her go, I may lose her.

Ignoring my fears I set Hannah on the table who hasn't relaxed her grip on me. Shizune spoke gently saying, "Thank you Kazakage, but now we need room to work."

The small room has indeed become quite crowded, the Hokage and her assistant are obviously taking point but a couple of nurses have come in as well to provide support on the operation. I look down at Hannah who is still crying softly and staring into the bright lights overhead. I use both of my hands and remove her hand from my shirt; and just as I do Hannah starts screaming worse than before, revealing the true extent of her pain.

_No, please, please don't leave. I'm not strong enough to do this alone! _I think as everything I have fought to endure in silence escapes in a piercing scream. Without that anchor; without something to hold onto, I won't be able to find the strength to keep fighting, the exhaustion threatens to overtake me. Sleep would bring such comfort, but he asked me to fight. So why did he leave her? Had he given up on her? I don't understand, nothing makes sense.

The darkness I have been wandering in has been replaced with a bright light, not a comforting light, but a blinding light. And his voice telling me to be strong is gone, replaced with commotion and chaos all around me. There is no comfort here, for me to hold onto anymore. And for the first time, I don't think I want to fight anymore.

The anguished scream that escapes Hannah as soon as I release my grip startles everyone in the room. I heard her scream on the way here but not this way there is more urgency. A scream filled with hopeless pain. The pain she has held back with her tears now escapes in full force.

I immediately grab her hand and hold it, speaking to her as the rest of the room falls silent. "Hannah it's almost over, we are here for you, you just have to fight a little longer. I'm sorry." Something within Hannah is triggered with the return of my touch and words. Her scream lessens in intensity and she grits her teeth as she fights to regain control.

I know she must be moments away from faltering, and was working to endure in silence. I want to tell her it would be ok. But she doesn't need that now. She needs someone to be strong for her. And I would do that for her.

Tsunade sees my grip Hannah's hand and the effect it has. She could see that I would stay with Hannah through this. She spoke softly to me, a warning in her voice, "You can stay, but it won't be pretty." Tsunade has never been one to sugar coat things and she didn't look like she was kidding. But I knew Hannah needed someone there just to be strong for her, so I wouldn't desert her now.

Tsunade and Shizune move to Hannah's side instantly, not wasting a moment. Tsunade on the opposite side of him where she would work on the shoulder wound; and Shizune at her feet. All of the nurses move the tables of supplies and medical equipment to each of their sides ready to assist them as they begin.

My team and I reached the boat just as it docks in the port. Everyone had reached the land of fire, they were all safe.

"Hey guys!" I yell as our birds fly down and I jump to meet Temari and Kankuro. "Where's Gaara? He not awake yet?" I can tell something is really wrong as see their expressions. "Oh My Gosh did I kill him?"

"No you idiot Gaara's fine, we need to go though we'll explain on the way." Kankuro replies, regarding Kakashi at the end, and adding to my unrest.

We all took off toward the village at full speed. Temari hasn't had even one smartalic remark which bothered me too. In fact she hasn't spoken at all, but she is leading the group, pushing herself hard into the night.

"Ok enough with the suspense, what's up?" I ask "What happened?". Kankuro begins to explain about Hannah, and how Gaara had taken her ahead to get her medical help. I looked at Ino who looked guilty and ashamed. She no doubt would blame herself if Hannah didn't make it. Sakura must have sensed this too, because she and Hinata move to run next to her.

I open my eyes, now alight with the features that accompanied his sage-mode. I move forward to reach Temari, who obviously wants to leave the group to get there faster. But our group was tired, and wouldn't be able to keep up. As soon as I meet her stride she looks into my eyes, we both take off with a new speed and leave the group behind us.


	13. Chapter 13

Restless Peace—Chapter 13

Tsunade hadn't lied. The process of ridding Hannah's body of the poison wasn't an easy or gentle process. Hannah remains quiet though, letting tears freely flow from her eyes and squeezing my hand harder every minute. Every once in a while I try and reassure her that we are here with her; and she will relax her grip a little.

Tsunade works quickly over her shoulder, using a scalpel to open the wound farther and clean the wound deeply. After stitching it up, she moves to begins working at a table creating a cure for the poison. She occasionally yells at a nurse to bring her a certain herb, who leaves out a back door, that as far as I can tell leads directly to a greenhouse. In the mean time, Shizune has formed what looks like a sphere of water that she pushes hard into Hannah's body, who would jerk from the pain, then lifts the water out again with beads of the poison she has extracted. It is a long process, and apparently a painful one for Hannah. Every time Shizune pushes the water into a region near her shoulder, Hannah lets a strained scream escape, accompanied by her whole body convulsing. All I can do is act as her anchor and be strong for her as she undergoes this final effort to save her life.

Temari and I run hard toward the village and don't slow for the guards at the main gate. I take the lead knowing that Tsunade would take Hannah to the hospital and begin working immediately. As we run into the hospital I don't even pause to ask directions, I don't need to. I locate Gaara's chakra, one I know well, and run for it.

They are on the third floor, with two guards outside the door. I lead Temari up the stairs where we turned the corner and headed straight for the room. The two guards begin to stop us but looking at my expression, knew better and stepped aside.

Temari walks in first, and I follow, quietly letting my sage-mode fade. Gaara is sitting beside the bed straight up with his eyes closed and his arms crossed. If he didn't know any better he would have guessed Gaara was asleep. "Gaara…" Temari spoke timidly.

"Tsunade and Shizune were able to take out the poison and create a cure." Gaara spoke quietly and to the point, not even opening his eyes. It only then occurred to me that Gaara probably blames me for Hannah's condition. I hadn't realized Gaara, Temari and Kankuro had grown so close to Hannah. They probably all hate me, if I hadn't drugged Gaara, forcing us to confront all of the clones, this wouldn't have happened to her. But we would have been confronted by them regardless, our ship's crew had been slaughtered long before we made our escape.

"Gaara, Temari…" I started not knowing what to say. Gaara stood from his seat and faced his sister who took the chair. He walked past me into the hall and I followed. We walk out onto a small balcony that is at the end of each upper floor hall. We both stood watching the sunrise in silence before Gaara spoke.

"Did you find him?" I know who Gaara is referring to, whoever had sent the clones, and I regretfully tell him the truth.

"After you all left we went after the village subordinate who greeted us. The entire town was empty; it had all been a ruse to lure you guys out there. The only sign of life was this guy alone in a house which we staked out for a while. Then we were attacked by two clones that were physically untraceable. We couldn't do anything until our backup got there. We finally eliminated the clones and captured the target who had told us information about his boss, this guy who makes all of the clones. And then the guy ended up being a clone himself so we couldn't get any more information out of him." I explained knowing Gaara would want more than a yes or no answer. My friend doesn't respond immediately so I continue. "Gaara, this guy wants to bring down the village's alliances, and the peace that comes with it. And he plans to do so by controlling one of the villages and he has chosen you as his main target. So I will do whatever is necessary to protect you, even if it means doing things you don't agree with. I hate what happened to Hannah, if I had known, I would have done the same thing, just differently. So I stand by making you leave the island, but just so you know, I think what happened to Hannah is my fault and I will take responsibility and take this guy out for both of you." With this said I jump off the balcony and run into the night; headed for the library to study up on this Zutara and begin my search.

I stay in the dull light of the rising sun for a moment more, thinking over Naruto's words. He had said that he regretted what had happened to Hannah, but not making leave the island. I also realize Naruto didn't give me the man's name, meaning he planned to go after him without my help. Knowing Naruto he would set out without any back up, I won't follow him now though. Naruto has no idea where the man is, or where to start looking, I will wait and tell Kakashi whenever he arrived. I turn to the door and walk silently down the dimly lit hallway, and back into Hannah's room.

Temari has set her fan next to my gourd and is sitting back in the chair next to the bed. Hannah is still asleep, her face is still covered in sweet and her breathing is somewhat labored. Tsunade had said that she would fully recover in time, but that most of her muscles had been damaged by the poison. She wouldn't be able to train or fight for a while because of the pain it would bring. I tell Temari all that the Hokage said, and that she did well.

"Gaara," Temari spoke after several moments of silence. "Naruto did the right thing making you leave the island." I shifted slightly from my stance leaning against the wall at the foot of the bed. I open my eyes to look at Temari, I trusted her judgment and often turned to her for advice. But what she was saying now surprised me. She continued after she knew she had his attention.

"The risks were too great for you to stay, even with the little we knew at the time. He may have used a stupid method, but his intentions were sound. If you think about it, it's exactly what you did to him during the beginning of the war." I searched my sister's eyes as she explained her meaning.

"The risks were too high for Naruto to be on the battlefield during the war, so you and the other Kages forced him to stay out of it by lying to him and sending him away to that island." I pondered the similarities of the two situations and concluded that Temari's words were sound. Naruto had gotten the idea from him, taking matters into his own hands by taking away my choice in the matter. I look away from Temari and instead down at Hannah, then bowed my head in thought. She was right of course, Naruto had acted just as I had, but from this perspective, it didn't seem like it could have been right. But that was only my perspective. I will have to talk to Naruto and tell him from now on it was both our fights.

One of the shinobi that had been guarding the door quietly entered and informed us that the house had been prepared for us again, and the rest of the group had arrived in the village. Temari and I moved silently out of the room, where I turn to speak to the ninja.

"You two are staying here with her?" The two were young, probably genine, and were intimidated by Temari, much less me. The two stiffened in alert and replied with an enthusiastic "Yes Sir!" Satisfied, Temari and I follow the hallway and walk down the stairs toward the exit. As soon as we move down the road we are met by Sakura and Ino. Ino looks exhausted and terrified as my sister and I approach.

"She will be fine, Tsunade said you did really well Ino." Temari gave a tired smile at the young medical ninja. Ino replied with a large sigh, then looked at Sakura who was smiling at her.

"See Ino, you did great. Now go home and get some sleep." Sakura regarded her friend who nodded and disappeared in a typical speed. Sakura then turned to face us. "Tsunade asked me to escort you two to your house. Kankuro is already there enjoying the bed." She smiled.

"You are welcome to stay as long as you like, but Lady Hokage has said that Hannah probably won't be able to travel the distance to the Sand village for some time because of the pain it would induce. Her recovery will be lengthy and difficult, and she doesn't want Hannah to overdo it." I hated hearing how difficult this would be for Hannah and I hated leaving without Hannah speaking to Hannah; as Kazakage I know I can't afford to stay away from my own village long enough to oversee Hannah's recovery. We both follow Sakura to the house neighboring the Hokage's mansion. We thank Sakura before entering the house and heading to our separate rooms.

Walking to the large window overlooking the waking village, I think about how long we can afford to stay. I don't know how long it will take for Hannah to wake up, or recover enough to even get out of bed. I decide we will stay until Hannah woke up, then they would head home.

I begin to feel my body regaining consciousness, I hear children laughing and running and the familiar sounds of my home. I try hard to let sleep take me again fearing this is all a dream, and if I open my eyes I will be alone, with nothing but that pain again. Finally I open my eyes to test what will happen. I lay silently without moving and see I am in the hospital in the leaf village. To my right there is a large window allowing the morning afternoon sun to light my room. Out the window I can see the courtyard behind the hospital where several patients are enjoying the day. The window is open slightly allowing the smells of fresh flower and food from the shops to ride in on the wind. A single white daisy rests in a vase on the window sill.

I lean up to feel the breeze remembering how good it felt while she was out. This was a mistake, as soon as I tried I doubled over in pain, which brought even worse pain. What was this? I thought I had beaten this! Don't panic I try to calm myself down and think through this rationally. I paid more attention to the origins of the pain now. It came from all over, ever muscle in her body radiated heat and even the slightest movement was accompanied with excruciating pain. The worst pain came from her shoulder; I move my head through the pain to get a better look at it. It was bandaged heavily with a long thin line of drying blood seeping up to the surface.

What happened? I think back to try and make sense of what happened to bring me to this point. I remember trying to escape that island. We had been attacked, at some point I had be cut by several shuriken, but those I had just shrugged off, but I remember getting hit strait in the shoulder with a kuni. It had hurt of course but it had also stung terribly. I ignored it and told myself it wasn't there. It wasn't until I had returned to the boat that I yanked the knife out of my flesh and really felt the pain it brought. After that I had my sensei look at it and she had cleaned it up for me and sent me to rest. But I didn't get rest, I had gone to lay down and that's when all I remember is pain. Trying to call out to Temari and Konkuro had only resulted in worse pain.

Now she was in the hospital in Konoha. They must have brought her here to see Lady Tsunade, but if the Hokage had treated me, I should be good as new. There wasn't a better healer in all the ninja world. So why am I still in such pain? That's when the flower in the window really catches my eye. It reminds me of the flowers the child gave Gaara when we first arrived in the Sand village. Gaara, he had stayed with me; He was the one who told me to fight through it and survive. I looked across the room, foolishly hoping he was there, of course he wasn't. Gaara is the Kazakage, who knows how long I have been out, he had more important things to do in his own village.

On a small dresser in the room I see the twin fans Temari and Konkuro had given me. During my training the fans my parents had left me were beginning to wear, and I started pushing them less to keep them in good condition. Seeing this, Temari and Konkuro made me a new pair of fans, they are a dark almost black wood, blending in well with the dead of night when closed. But if opened they had a beautiful white face, one side decorated with the symbol of the Leaf village, and the other with that of the Sand village. They told me they were made just for me.

Seeing the fans remind me of what I promised myself before going out to fight toward the docks. That she would become stronger, that she would rise to everyone else's level and become and asset, a trusted comrade. And just after promising herself this, she had gotten poisoned. I will get stronger. If I can master this pain, I can become strong enough to protect those I love. So instead of sitting around waiting to get over this, I will use it as an opportunity.

Easier said than done. I start small, inching my way to sit on the edge of the bed. Each of these tiny movements send heats of pain through every fiber of my body. I ignore it as best I can. I also know that I must be quiet. If I am to become stronger than this pain, I must endure in silence. Next I work on standing, my first attempt is pathetic ending as soon as I try to support myself with my arms to get off the bed. I take several breaths and build up the nerve to try again. I grit my teeth and push myself to my feet.

_How pathetic, It's gonna take me an hour just to get out of the room._ Moving one foot in front of the other, I take baby steps toward my goal, the dresser. Thirty minutes later I have reached the dresser and dressed in my normal clothes. I have tears running down my face now, acting as the pains escape instead of screams. I sigh deeply, I can't just walk out the door, I highly doubt the nurses will agree this is a prime training opportunity. That leaves only one way out, the window.

After what feels like hours I reach the bed again, out of breath and wishing just to lay back in bed.

But that's not an option, that won't help anyone or anything. I pass the safe haven of the bed and reach the window. I open the window further and the wind passes through playfully tossing my hair. It reminds me so much of that precious moment, when for a second the pain was nonexistent and all I felt in the world was this breeze in my hair and my hand holding onto the strength of Gaara. In that moment I found that feeling again and blocked out everything else. I focused on that feeling. I gently move the vase to take my place on the bed and stepped out the window and onto the small roof that lined the third floor. Normally this would be a piece of cake, but today it seemed impossible. I've done well so far, enduring the searing pain in quiet but this I know will break my resolve. I rip part of my sleeve off and stuff it into my mouth to muffle the scream that will surely follow. Before I can talk myself out of it, I jump to the empty courtyard below. And then I pass out.


	14. Chapter 14

Restless Peace—Chapter 14

The clone smirked as he walked unquestioned though the leaf village. His infiltration had not only been successful, but simple. He had mimicked a normal looking person leaving the village and had told the gate guards he had forgotten something. Such naive people, so trusting; they hadn't even questioned his ruse. After that he had ducked into a shadowed alley and switched to mimic some random person he remembered from another village, so as not to be questioned by people who might have recognized the man he had mimicked earlier.

He remembered the location of the hospital, and moved toward it now. His mission was not to go after the Kazakage now, but to frame his brother for the murder of the girl they had poisoned. They knew the Kazakage had brought her here to be treated and the Hokage was more than capable of counteracting the poison. The girl would be defenseless now and even with the knowledge of their abilities the speculation within the village would be enough to break the trust between the two villages. They would never believe a clone would be able to infiltrate the village this far. And the sand ninjas would be blamed. As the hospital came into view he entered and made up a story about visiting someone and continued on unquestioned.

So simple, he moved into the stairwell where he stopped. He was by no means a sensory type ninja, but with what little ability he had he concluded that the girl had no visitors. He quickly changed forms again, this time mirroring the Sand ninja Kankuro. He walked into the hallway and straight to the girl's door, it was guarded by two young genine. They were surprised to see him but didn't question his presence. He decided to take a chance with them. "Hey guys, I got it here, why don't you guys go grab a bite to eat?" He yawned and glared at the two like he had just woken up and was irritable. He sensed that the two were already intimidated by him so they quickly looked at each other and nodded before saying thank you and quickly leaving down the hall. He smirked at how easy this was all falling into place.

_It's Back._ The Pain that almost broke her, was back. But this time I would welcome it. I forced myself back into conscience, I have only been out a few moments at the most. The heat that burned my body, wasn't flames, but the muscles in my body trying to force me to stop. I move as quickly as I can back to my feet and move north through the back of the hospital courtyard toward the training grounds.

I don't know how long it took me but I finally made it to the training grounds. The familiar sight brought with it memories I had locked away. My parents bringing me here in one of my only memories of them. My first day with my team. And coming back here after they were lost in the war. My body begins shaking, but not from the pain now, I'm struggling to keep back the sobs that come with the memories. I move my quivering hands to retrieve my fans from their belt. So now, instead of crying, or screaming; I let out all of my pain, past and present, out as I send streams of my chakra flying at my targets.

As he moved into the room he met the first snag in his plans, the girl wasn't in her room. He looked around at the hospital gown carelessly tossed into the corner. The open dresser drawer, then finally his eyes rested on the open window as the curtains tossing in the breeze. He moved to the window sill where he looked down into the courtyard below. He wouldn't be able to assure he could take her out privately down there, but if he was seen that would further instigate the sand ninja for her death. It was remarkable that she was able to move much less try and train in the condition she was in. He would meet little resistance from her. As he moved to the window she had earlier used as her escape, to follow her; he met a much larger snag in the plan.

He could hear the real Kankuro talking loudly regarding his brother and sister from the open window. Soon they would either reach the room, or meet the two genine both of which scenarios would alert them to his presence. If he was to accomplish his mission he would need to move quickly. No matter, it wouldn't take long, no matter who had treated the girl, she would still be weak from my poison. He dropped to the ground where he could see the signs of the girl's path. There were drags in the grass and occasional places where he could see she fell and struggled to get back up. Yes, this would be simple. But there was no reason to make it this easy for the others to follow. So the clone carefully covered all traces of his and the girl's tracks as he moved to eliminate his target.

As Kankuro complained about the breakfast I had prepared us, we move into the hospital lobby to visit Hannah. I hadn't been able to sleep long, and Gaara didn't sleep at all as far as I know. Konkuro of course had been out before we even arrived this morning. It was now about three o'clock, and we decided to see Hannah before the Hokage came to reassess her. The moment we passed into the lobby we knew something was horribly wrong. The two guards who we left guarding Hannah earlier this morning were coming down the stairs laughing and talking. But their demeanors turned completely around at the sight of us. But strangely not us, Konkuro.

"Sir!" The first of the two yelled in surprise at my brother.

The second old genine spoke this time, "You said you would watch over Hannah while we took a break! Why did you leave her already?" The two kids looked at each other in confusion.

"What are you talking about? I haven't been over here yet." Kankuro replied.

It hit the three of us at the same time, we all run up the stairs as fast as we can with the two ninja following close behind voicing their confusion. Hannah's room was at the end of the hall with no signs of movement. I make it back to the door first to face the empty room. There weren't signs of a struggle, but rather quiet. Hannah was not on the bed, her clothes were gone, and her hospital garment left in the corner. Her weapons and kuni bag were also gone. The window was open and the curtain carelessly tossing in the wind. I rush to the window and climbed onto the roof, and jump down. Gaara and Kankuro used his sand to carry them down.

"Konkuro you and Gaara go check the gates together! Make sure he isn't trying to get her out of the village." My brothers moved together on Gaara's sand quickly toward the village gates. I moved past the trees and try to use every sensory trick I've ever heard of. There were no signs of movement, and I couldn't sense her chakra anywhere near. I run swiftly through the tree in the back of the courtyard and pray we're not too late.

My frantic heart was about to reach its limit. I had taken out all of my emotional pain and thrown it out for good, with my hard work. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Everything I have held onto all these years, I have come to terms with. My slate is clean.

I move to the tree I have been aiming at and lean against its tattered trunk. I had torn it up pretty good, but it supported me as I struggled to slow my breathing. The pain hadn't lessened any and unfortunately had gotten worse. But I was beginning to be able to ignore it more, work through it as long as I stayed focused. As soon as I come to this realization I smile. I can do this, I can be strong for others. My smile quickly fades though as a dark figure emerges from the opposite end of the training meadow.

"Hannah you shouldn't be out here! You're too weak still!" Temari yelled across the meadow at me. "You almost gave me a heart attack when I saw your room empty! Come on we need to get back!"

I have a bad feeling, is it the pain, dulling my senses or what? Temari starts moving toward me and gives me a comforting smile. At that moment I retrieve my fans and push off the sturdy trunk. I spin my body around gaining momentum and build up the chakra in my fans. Temari yells out in protest as the blue pulsing blades soar towards her.

"What are you doing Hannah! Honey you're confused! Your sick, come on back with me and I'll help you!" she yelled at me.

"Wow for a clone you don't mimic my sensei well at all." I counter. The clone's fake expression of shock and innocence fades into an evil grin.

"This could have been easy you know, you would have drifted into death peacefully, like falling into a deep sleep." The clones appearance begins to change into some stranger. He begins circling the meadow around me. "There's still time, stop fighting, you're too weak to win. I know the pain you have suffered and the pain you are in right now. There is no one to help you. I was prepared to wait until those sand ninja left to get to you, but they didn't even stay long enough for me to wait. The Kazakage was furious at the trouble you caused them."

What? I never expected them to stay until I recovered, but I guess I thought they, they cared. Was I really a burden to them? Was Gaara mad I had caused him to bring me back here? The weight I had felt lifted from me earlier comes crashing back down, threatening to crush me. It doesn't matter, I lie to myself. I still have to fight. I won't give in.

I wait until he has completed his large circle around me and say, "I'm tired of fighting, all it does is bring me pain!" The clone smirks at his victory and closes his eyes for just a moment, but I'll take even a moment, if I am to stay alive I'll need every advantage I can get. I quickly form my hand signs and yell, "Wind art: Twin Breeze Blades!" I swing both of my fans across my chest in the opposite direction from witch of my hands it rests in. The attack sends two streams of concentrated wind forward, then branching out to form a wide range and finally circling back to head directly at the clone from each of his sides. The attack doesn't allow him to advance forward, or dodge to the left or right. It leaves him only one option, back. Which is exactly where I need him. I have mid to long range attacks and he being a clone only has short up front attacks.

The clone does the expected and easily dodges the attack by retreating backwards. "I'm tired of you." He sneers and glares up at me. I know what will follow, he will charge me and I must hold him back if I am to survive, but I've been training, and am hurt on top of that. The pain is unbearable, and the only way I had been holding it back was by thinking of my friends, but now I wasn't even sure they were my friends. My vision is beginning to blur as my body attempts to stop the pain by passing out again. But if that happens I'm dead. I've used up almost all of my chakra so I'm quickly running out of options. I could try and flee back to the village, but I wouldn't be able to react and defend myself from his attacks from behind. Not to mention I fell down twice on my way here just walking. Option two is to try and get off a big enough attack that he would disappear. He is just a clone after all, it shouldn't take much, but then again, I don't have much to dish out.

The clone doesn't disappoint, he charges toward me and I quickly push my twin fans side by side creating a larger fan. Sending a larger wave I make more chakra blades and send them along the wind forcing him to jump. Unfortunately he jumps high into the sun and I lose sight of him. I try to send some wind in his general direction as I retreat back to the tree.

All is quiet for a moment, my eyes scan the meadow's edges for any signs of him. I realize I'm a sitting duck where I am and move back into the open. This doesn't make me feel much more secure. I hear them before I see them, four shuriken racing toward me. I turn to face the attack and retract my fans and use their metal frames to block each attack.

I feel it immediately; I've run out of time, I've reached my limit. My breathing is fast and irregular, my heart feels like it might explode and I can't see anything but outlines now. I can't dodge any more shuriken. I've lost, He emerges from the clearing slowly, confidently. He has won, and he knows it. I try without success to keep standing, but fall first to one knee and then down on the other. I let out a scream as the shock of the impact sends more pain up my body, if that's possible. The clone was inches from me now, standing over me with the kuni knife that would end my life.


	15. Chapter 15

Restless Peace—Chapter 15

Another breeze mockingly blows through my hair. The feeling had brought such comfort not long ago. A symbol of my friends, but now, in the end it was nothing more than the wind.

The clone laughs, "You really thought you could do it, live through this. Someone as weak as you couldn't win against me on a normal day, much less now. How pitiful, dying alone, without anyone. Will anyone even notice you're gone?" The clones words cut me deeper than any knife. I raise my head to look into his mocking eyes. Tears in my eyes making him almost impossible to see. He leans down so his mouth is right next to my ear. His cruel whispers send chills down my spine. "You want to know a secret? We are going to blame your death on those infernal Sand ninja, so in a way you will get your revenge against their abandonment. Maybe you will find comfort from that as you die.

What happens after he speaks all happens very fast. My mind kicks into a new gear, the fog all clears. No, I don't care if they do hate me now, I will not allow them to be hurt by my death. If had just affected me, or had no significance to anyone like the clone said, I would accept my death now. But I will not die here if it means hurting them.

With my new resolve, I force my senses to clear so I may act now. I smoothly swing my legs out from under me and deliver a low kick to the clone. The pain is all but forgotten, I will deal with the consequences later. The clone recovers quickly swearing at the unexpected move. He charges back at me, but I am on my feet now and ready for him. Sparks fly as he attacks with two kuni and I block them all perfectly with my fans. Then after minutes of this, I dodge an attack and counter by opening one fan and build up my chakra on the end of it to act as a blade. Now I am on the offensive. The clone backs up and does his best to deflect my attacks. There! A moment of unbalance gives me the opportunity to open the second fan. I can hear myself exclaim with each blow, it takes everything I have. The clone backs up to the edge of the tree line now and just barely jumps up to a tree limb as I deliver a blow that cuts through a thin tree.

"Why won't you die?" The clone yells frustrated.

"Because it doesn't matter if I die alone, but I will not die allowing those I love to be hurt! If the friendships between my village and the sand depend on my staying alive, there's no way I'll die!" I jump to reach the limb he is resting on, he doesn't expect this. He knows I'm a long range fighter, and that's what he has prepared counter attacks for, so I'll just mess him up by fighting hand to hand. He blocks my attack but losses balance and falls from the tree.

I follow moments behind him diving down strait for him, both fans extending my chakra ready to make my final blow. But then something happens that distracts me, another Temari has come running through the trees and has almost reached us, eyes wide with shock. Another one! The clone senses my surprise and takes advantage of it jumping up to meet me mid air. I barely have time to retract my fan to block the attack. But then, with the still open fan, I twist mid air building up as much momentum as possible to gain momentum and use my air stream filled with small chakra blades and finally hit him head on.

The clone yells, unable to dodge in mid air, or block the attack my wind with his kuni. And then in a billow of smoke is gone. One clone left, she is almost to me, so I charge at her too. Sending more wind streams ahead.

"Woah!" The Temari clone yells. "What are you doing!" I don't listen, if he thinks I'm dumb enough to fall for a trick that didn't work the first time…

I continue my onslaught of attacks, ignoring all words the clone yells in protest. This is a very new approach though, staying in Temari's form and staying on the defensive, hoping I'll drop my guard. A few minutes pass and I'm beginning to feel the pain again. My body won't last much longer. And then the task becomes impossible. I have backed up to the tree line again and across the meadow emerges clones in the form of Gaara and Konkuro also. Three? I know I have no chance against three in my condition.

The Temari clone is in the middle of the meadow walking slowly towards me. I can see her mouth moving but I can't hear not that I'd want to. But now I can't hear, I reach my hand up to my ear and it comes back down with blood. Ok I'm almost done, my only chance is to make it back to the village. I open both fans and push them together to send my longest attack at the three approaching clones. I don't even stick around to see if they dodge it, I turn and run through the trees. I will only have a couple of moments head start and I'll have to take advantage of it. I'm completely defenseless now without being able to hear them. Is this the way to the village, I've lost all sense of direction… I make it a few minutes and I feel my body give way completely. I miss the branch I've aimed to land on, I'm falling. It's over. The ground approaches quickly. Just before I collide with the ground I'm caught by the Temari. I fight as best I can kicking and screaming trying to break free. The other two catch up and I begin crying, I've let my village down, I've failed.

Then the Temari takes my face in between her hands forcing me to look her in the eyes. They are so comforting so much like my sensei's, I so wish it were her. The clones did a much better job mimicking them this time around. Every detail was perfect. The funny confused expression worn by Konkuro, I'm pretty sure he was yelling my name. Gaara's cool in control face, as he yelled something at the clone mimicking his sister. And Temari's forceful expression reminded me of when we would train in the Sand village. So in my final moments as I stare into her eyes and watch the other two over her shoulders; I pretend they are the three I had loved as if they were family. And then my vision gives out and my world goes dark.

What is going on? I thought as I screamed at Hannah to stop fighting me. I had reached the clearing just in time to hear her speak to the clone and finish him off, she looked exhausted. I couldn't believe she had taken him out. Gaara had told me how the Hokage told him how much pain she would be in. And here she was fighting and executing the techniques I had taught her perfectly. Then just as I had begun to relax that she was safe, she charged at me and began attacking me! I yelled at her to stop that it was me, but she never responded, if she could hear me she didn't show it. She yelled out in effort with each attack she sent out at me, I had to be on my toes to be able to dodge them all, I had to get close enough to her to restrain her and talk some sense into her. But then as I pushed her back to the tree line, Gaara and Konkuro came running into the clearing.

I could see a tear glimmer in the sunlight as she saw their entrance. I thought she could see we were real and not clones and was relieved. But was surprised again when Hannah combined her fans in a fashion I hadn't taught her, and she sent an attack in our direction that went farther than any of us expected. Gaara used his sand to shield us all. And as his sand fell away, she was gone. We all start running after her, as Konkuro voices his confusion.

"What is going on?" He growled.

"I got here just as she finished off a clone, she thinks we are all clones. I'd been fighting her off for a while when you showed up. She knows she can't handle all of us in her condition. So I guess she is trying to retreat back to the village." I yell back at my brother.

"You think she knows that's not the way to the village?" He asks.

Gaara responds this time, "She is disoriented, her only instinct is to preserve her life by running, we must catch her to assure she doesn't hurt herself. Her Body can't take that pace for very long."

"I take the point and we quickly gain on her. After she is in sight, we see she is moving unevenly; barely landing on each branch. Then she finally misses, and falls, she doesn't exclaim or scream. She just falls. I reach her just in time to catch her before the impact. And that's when she starts screaming.

"No, Noo! Let me go! Stop!" She kicks and tries to hit me to break free. I've pinned her to the ground, so she isn't making any progress. My brothers catch up to us and land behind me.

"Geeze" Konkuro whispers, looking at Hannah. He was right, she looked terrible. There is blood smearing her face and tears streaming down her face.

"I'm so sorry… so sorry. I failed you sensei, I lost… They won." Hannah kept repeating as her body went limp and she finally gave up her struggle. She let her head fall to her side refusing to look at us. I let her arms loose and hold her face to look at me.

"Hannah! It's us! You didn't fail me you won! It's gonna be okay! Look at me!" I yell back at her. Konkuro also joins in by yelling her name. Gaara instructs me that we must get her back to the Hokage. At that moment her eyes glaze over and I can tell she can't see me anymore. With one last 'I'm sorry' her eyes flutter closed and she lets out a long sigh.

"Hannah!" I yell desperately.

"She will be ok, she is just exhausted." Gaara says calmly. "She fought hard, harder than I'd imagined possible. The Hokage said she wouldn't be able to move."

"She executed jutsu and techniques perfectly. And some I didn't teach her. She beat the clone by fighting hand to hand, he wasn't expecting it." I explained.

"Let's get her back." Gaara said finally.

"She's a surprising little girl isn't she…" Konkuro said with a small laugh.


	16. Chapter 16

Restless Peace—Chapter 16

_I'm falling, falling, falling. It's dark, and quiet. I'm all alone. I see my life passing in seconds, everyone I ever loved, my parents, my team, Temari, Konkuro, Gaara. All of them turn their backs on me… I call out to them, plead for them to stay. But they walk away fading into darkness. I run after them but I'm too slow, I can't catch them. The echos of my calls resonate and fade into nothingness. _

"Hannah! Hannah wake up!" I wake up and see Gaara in front of me. _No the clones are still after me!_ _Why haven't they killed me yet?_ I push him away and look desperately for an escape. I'm back in my hospital room, why though?

"Hannah it's me, your safe." Gaara says calmly sending his sand to cover the window and prevent my escape. Wait, a clone can't use his sand, is this a dream? Gaara left, he and his siblings are gone.

"You, you left." I say still on edge.

"No, we never left, we should have been here with you." He says walking toward me. Now I'm really confused, He's supposed to be mad at me, angry at my weakness.

"You never left?" I ask quietly.

"No." He answers again.

"But aren't you mad at me? You and Temari and Konkuro? The clone said you hated me for causing you all so much trouble…" I say heart beating fast.

"No Hannah, we couldn't be mad at you, you risked your life for us. Temari heard what you said to the clone in the meadow, how you would protect those you loved." He sat on the edge of my bed and looked straight into my eyes. Nothing but truth reflecting there. He gently raised his arm to put his hand on my good shoulder.

Overcome with relief, I collapse into his chest and start crying. Again using his strength to carry on.

_She believed we hated her, because we weren't there for her when she needed us. She thought she was alone, and yet she still fought for us and the leaf village. Hannah is truly stronger than I thought. We almost lost her._ This is what I thought as I saw the confusion on Hannah's face as she asked if we hated her. How could she believe that? As I told her the truth she seemed so relieved so happy and yet, she fell into me and began crying. What is she doing? Why is holding onto me? I've seen people do this to those they draw comfort from. Does she find comfort from me? I'm shocked for a moment. But then I move my hand I had on her shoulder to hold her head as she cries. I don't know what to say, why is she sad? Is she scared? After a moment her tears stop and her breathing slows.

"Hannah you must sleep." I say. She is already half asleep. Some emotional burden exhausting her. I lay her head back down against the bed and she says as her eyes close.

"Please don't leave, I, I'm scared to be alone."

"I won't, you won't be alone." I promise.

I sit there for a minute confused by Hannah's actions. Why did she look for comfort from me? Did she trust me so much? No one had ever looked to me for such things. I move off the bed gently and move next to the door. As I lean back and fold my arms, I can sense someone approaching down the hall. Sure enough moments later Naruto opens the door loudly and yells.

"How's Hannah doing?" _Idiot…_ my sand forms a barrier between Naruto's loud mouth and the rest of the world. I look back to Hannah who is still asleep despite the intrusion. I can hear muffled protests coming from Naruto and give him a look before allowing the sand to move back to its resting place in my gourd in the corner.

Naruto gives an embarrassed smile before speaking again. "How's Hannah doing?" He whispers.

"She did well, she will recover." I state bluntly. Naruto gives me an exhausted expression waiting for more details.

"So what's the plan now?" I contemplate Naruto's words wondering the same thing, Temari has gone to speak to the Hokage about just that.

"I see…" The Hokage said from across the desk she sat at. After bringing back Hannah, the Hokage had checked her out and then brought Konkuro and I over here to discuss what had happened.

"We need to know what we are dealing with here, these are not ordinary clones. The man making them came from Konoha. What is his story?" I ask frustrated.

"The intell division has dug up some information on him. This man, Zutara, was a respected shinobi in the Leaf during the second great ninja war. After the war however, he did not trust the other nations and began developing a new jutsu in secret. What we know now as the multi-shadow clone jutsu. He presented it to the Hokage as a means overthrow the other nations. But the village was enjoying the newly accomplished peace and did not wish to stir up suspicion that we were planning a new war. The technique was deemed forbidden jutsu and Zutara was ordered to stop work on all new ninjutsu. Zutara was furious, and swore he would prove that the peace between us and the other nations was fake. The elders decided he was a threat to the peace and stripped him of his shinobi status and banished him from the village." The Hokage finished.

I thought about all I had learned as the Hokage continued. "As for after that, of course we only have assumptions and what the clone reviled to Kakashi's team. That after he was banished Zutara found refuge on the island and continued his research there. And now his descendant is continuing his cause, creating new ways to use his clones and hates the Leaf village just as much as each of the other villages."

"He must have come out of hiding after hearing of the bonds the nations had formed after the war. And taken it upon himself to break them by pitting each nation against one another. By first going after Gaara, then trying to frame us for Hannah's death. What do you think his next move will be?" I ask.

"That is still unclear…" The Hokage sighs. This is all we know about the enemy. So I move onto another topic.

"What do you wish to do with Hannah? Gaara has decided if she chooses to he will allow her to come back with us, permanently this time. To train as my student."

"Oh?" The Hokage lifts her head surprised. "And the Kazakage thinks he can just make descions for my shinobi?"

"No m'lady, my brother greatly respects you, but thinks Hannah will be safer with us were I can train her and keep an eye on her." The Hokage recoils slightly from my words. But tightens her eyes as she speaks again.

"I will speak to the Kazakage about Hannah. I suggest you two prepare for your journey home."

Just as Naruto is finishing some story about wanting to obliterate someone for some reason the door opens again. This time the Hokage walks in. She doesn't look mad, but she doesn't look thrilled either.

"Kazakage may I have a word with you?" She states, not really indicating I had a choice.

"Of course, but we will have to speak here, Hannah asked me to stay." The Hokage looked a bit baffled, but then nodded. For a few minutes no one said anything. Apparently Naruto hadn't realized that was his cue to leave…

"Naruto…" the Hokage started.

"Yeah Granny?" He replied in his typical disrespectful fashion. I sigh quietly, _he will never grow up._

"Get Out!" The Hokage yelled. For a moment I worried she would wake Hannah, but she didn't stir.

"Why? Why can't you talk with me here? It's not like I'm gonna tell anyone!" Naruto pleaded.

"Oh yes like you didn't tell anyone about that secret mission I sent your team on last month!" The Hokage said frustrated.

"Oh come on, no one at Ichiracu's cared!" Naruto said in his defense.

"OUT!"

"Ok, ok, geeze." Naruto pouted as he left the room. Finally alone, the Hokage turned her attention to me.

"Your sister tells me you believe Hannah should return to the Sand village with you."

"If that is what she wishes, I will not prevent her. She has learned well under Temari's guidance."

"You know what that would mean, and permanent move. Not only for her, but for our nations. Don't you?"

"Yes, I will not let her make her decision without her knowing as well. But she has the right to choose."

"A shinobi like that has never been known. She shouldn't have to bear that burden, and…"

"She is stronger than you know, I have seen it. You should not underestimate her." I interrupt. As I say the words Hannah's eyes flutter back open. She intakes a large breath, frightened. And she searches the room starting with the window. She relaxes as soon as she sees me and the Hokage. She moves to stand, as she says, "M'lady, I'm sorry… I fell asleep."

"Don't get up Hannah, you have nothing to apologize for, your body needs time and rest to recover."

"Is something wrong?" Hannah asks confused.

"No Hannah, but I must speak with you for a while." The Hokage gives me the same look she gave Naruto earlier which I interpret better than he. I move to the door and Hannah begins to say something.

"I will return as soon are you finished Hannah." She doesn't voice her earlier protest and I leave the room.

The Hokage moved to take the extra chair in the corner of the room. She let out a tired sigh even though it was late morning.

"How are you feeling?" She asks.

"Good, just sore." I lie, and she knows it.

"Hannah, I know the poison that you were injected with, I am amazed you were able to move out of this room yesterday much less beat your enemy. Do not lie to me. The truth this time."

I sigh this time, I don't want her to know how I really feel, because I want to ask her if I may travel back with Gaara and Temari. So I tell her the truth in a very muted way. "I have a lot of pain in my shoulder. But after forcing myself to ignore it yesterday to fight, I don't notice much more. Like I said, it mostly feels like I'm sore." I really hope she accepts my answer. The truth is I still feel every burning muscle, how each movement is met with protest.

"Oh Hannah, what am I going to do with you?" The Hokage smiles and I see my chance to make my request.

"Lady Tsunade, if I may, I'd like to request to return to the Sand village to continue training with my sensei." She gives me another tired look, as she speaks.

"I know, that's what I want to talk to you about. Hannah do you know why the clones attacked Gaara on that island?" She asked, it was a strange question, of course I knew.

"Yes mam, in order to take control of the Sand village and break the alliances between the nations."

"Yes, the man who creates these clones we are dealing with have one goal. To break the peace we are enjoying right now. Once their plans failed on the island, they moved to you. They knew you were injured and also knew the Sand ninja were here. They came after you to frame the Kazakage and his team for your death, they failed again." The Hokage tells me this like it is all new information, what does this have to do with me returning to the sand village I wonder.

"Now we are up to the present. You have been training under Temari, and have grown stronger. You have also created bonds with her and her family in the Sand village, this is why you wish to return, correct?" She looks to me for confirmation and I answer yes.

"Hannah, you have suffered many losses here and it is understandable that you wish to return with them. But a ninja does not spend indefinite time away from her village." Despite my efforts I know my expression must show my disappointment. I really thought she would let me go back. But she was right, who ever heard of a ninja living in another village for so long?

"So, if you were to return to the Sand village, you would become a Sand ninja. It is a fairly common occurrence for a ninja to abandon their village to join another." _Abandon? No, that's not my intention; does she think that is what I want?_ I want the impossible, I realize.

"But from what I gather, this is not your desire."

"No m'lady it isn't, I don't wish to abandon the Leaf village!" I assure her.

"That's what I thought, so if you still wish to leave for the Sand village, this would mean you would be the first shinobi to serve two villages and nations."

_What? That was an option? I guess I had never thought of it because it had never happened before, was this possible?_

"A move like this would signify a great deal of trust between our villages, and therefore our nations. If you choose to go back to the Sand permantly, we here at the leaf will support you, and therefore the Sand. This will strengthen our bonds, and you will become a symbol of peace between our lands. You will be the exact thing this man hates most, he already knows who you are, and may come after you. Is this what you want?"

I think on what my Hokage has said, I hadn't realized my loyalties and bonds with Gaara and his village were so important. That, to the rest of the ninja world it symbolized our trust. For a moment I am afraid, frightened by the thought of playing such an important role for my nation. But the Hokage didn't seem to be discouraging me, she looked like she had faith in me now. I answer confidently, "With your permission, I wish to return to the Sand village."

"Very well, Hannah, you have my orders. You are to travel to the Sand village and become the first shinobi under the equal leadership of both the Kazakage of the Sand and the Hokage of the Leaf."

"Thank you Lady Hokage, I will do my best."

"Now you are still to rest until your injuries heal, you may travel back with the Kazakage today, but you must tell them if it gets too much, do you understand?" Satisfied with my polite nod, she continued. "Be cautious, as you enter the Sands regular forces there will be some who distrust the Leaf, or who do not like the new bonds our villages have made. Hannah, you are a kind person, you are very trusting, do not grant true trust lightly. Protect yourself and the Sand village equally."

"I will m'lady." I respond in attention.

"The Kazakage cannot delay his journey home to wait for you to recover, so you must continue to heal in the Sand village. You are not to begin your training until you have recovered, do you understand?" She asks demanding agreement.

"Yes mam. I understand."

"Good, Sakura!" The Hokage screams and almost instantly her student appears in the window sill.

"Yes m'lady!" Sakura replies to her master.

"Please take Hannah home and help her prepare for her journey. And then take her to meet the Kazakage and his team at the west gate." The Hokage finishes her orders just as Gaara reenters the room followed by a grinning Naruto who is pushing an empty wheel chair.

"Oh I'm fine, I don't need a chair," I protest. But the look the Hokage sends in my direction tells me it isn't up for debate. Sakura helps me into the chair and pushes me out of the suddenly crowded room. We leave the hospital and I begin preparing my new life.


	17. Chapter 17

Restless Peace—Chapter 17

"Close the door." Granny said in a stressed tone. "She's made her decision, she's committed to going with you." Gaara looked at Granny Tsunade as she plopped down on the bed. What's her problem?

"What's wrong with that? It's what she wants and she was getting so strong over there." I said. Gaara looked at me with the same tired look granny had. "Seriously what's up?" I guess it was their goal to ignore me…

"She will need protection, but at the same time she needs to be involved if her presence is to be of any significance." Tsunade speaks to Gaara.

"Yes, I already have a team in mind for her to join, when she recovers that is." Gaara replies

"That's another thing, she will try to get out into the field as soon as possible, have Temari make her visit a doctor…"

"Would one of you tell me what you're so worried about?" I yell at them both.

Tsunade sighs deeply, "You see Naruto, Hannah agreeing to go live permanently in the Sand village has shown her alligance there. Therefore she is now serving both me and Gaara. And that being said, the Nations of Wind and Fire equally. This will do wonders for the trust between out nations. She will be the first shinobi in history to be an active ninja serving two hidden villages. Hannah will be as well know as any of us Kage."

"So what's wrong with that? That's what we want, to be known for trusting one another, right?" I rebuke.

Gaara spoke this time, "Yes, but along with this great achievement comes a considerable risk. This most recent attack on us has proven that there are those who despise the great nations and our friendly terms. But they are not the first, and won't be the last. Small bands of rouge ninja have always been able to flee and survive by entering other nations. Now, if a wanted ninja from the Leaf were to enter any other village, that village would apprehend and deliver them to justice. All of these people, who are facing challenges due to our peaceful time will know of Hannah as well. If they get the chance, they will destroy our newest symbol of peace. This also gives our enemies the perfect reason to work together. It will be dangerous for her." He spoke to me in a muted tone, I suspect he is just as concered as I am for Hannah. So there is no reason for me to state the obvious.

"You said you have a team in mind for her to join in the Sand?" I ask Gaara.

"Yes."

"And you trust them?" I promt.

"One of them is someone you have met on previous occasion. Matsuri, my student." I recognize the name, she had helped me and Gaara out in the past. And was the one to convince the Sand ninja to abandon unnecessary posts to recover Gaara. I trusted her too.

"So what now?" I ask.

"First we must get them all to the Sand village, Hannah will be an easy target. But word will not have spread yet, so you will have the advantage. The enemy is known to be in the land of fire, so I have no doubt they will confront you if given the chance. I know you are perfectly capable Kazakage, but I won't have a visiting Kage attacked under my watch." Granny Tsunade thinks out loud.

As I think about the Hokage's words it comes to me, "I have an idea."

"Sakura, thanks again, I'm sorry you have to do all this…" I say for the millionth time. She moves around my little room in the shinobi dorms and packs away my various belongings. There isn't much, but I still feel bad she has to do it all for me.

"Hannah I don't mind!" She says with a kind smile. "And besides we're all done! That's everything!" Looking around the empty room, everything seems real. I'm really leaving for good. Who knows when I'll be back again, this has all happened so quickly. Am I really ready to take all of this on?

Before I have a change to voice my concerns Sakura tells me it is time to go. I talk her out of the wheel chair, we may as well pretend I am feeling well. I close the door to my small room and leave everything behind me and worry about the future.

"All right, that should do it. I will go summon the rest of your team to meet you at the west gate. Good luck to you Kazakage."

"Thank you Hokage." The woman swept past me out of the room. Naruto and I followed walking silently down the stairs and into the busy streets. Everything was very normal, none of the people aware of what had been happening the past few days. Naruto was telling another story about him doing something 'cool' but my thoughts were far away. When we finally reached the village gate, my sister was waiting for us.

"What took so long?" She asked playfully. Naruto grumbled something about her always being so rude, but after she asked what he said he had to go get ready. Temari laughed as he retreated. "So, I assume you got everything worked out with the Hokage?" She said.

"Yes, Hannah is preparing for the trip back." I answer.

"And the Hokage explained everything?" I answer with only a stiff nod. As I watch the streets for the sign for either her or Konkuro. "Well, she sure has grown in the past couple of days, she is ready. That's thanks to you, you know." I turn to face her, she is leaning back against the open gate looking at me in uncharacteristically soft expression. She senses my confusion and continues. "The strength it takes to face something like this isn't something I could have taught her if I tried. But you, she has seen your strength and holds onto it. She knows what you have been through and sees everything you have accomplished. She knows that if you can do that, maybe she can undertake such things as well. She will need you more than any of us now." My sister finishes just as Konkuro comes sulking up to us. I would have liked to talk to her more about what she meant. I knew that I had to be strong for my village, but what Temari was talking about seemed more complex somehow, deeper. I had felt it, back in the hospital room. When she had cried and clung to me, it had felt like she was trying to draw strength from me.

I don't have long to linger on the thought because our group is assembling. And it was a large group; Naruto and a clone, Sai, Hinata, Ino, Captain Yamato, Kakashi, Neji Hyuuga, and Rock Lee all congregate at the gate.

"Gaara, please tell me all these losers aren't traveling all the way back to the Sand with us, just please tell me this…" Konkuro pleads.

"No just Kakashi, Sakura and I will be going with you to the border. The rest of us…" Konkuro asks Temari if the Naruto speaking is the real one just as Captain Yamato gives the rest of the group an order. As he does Each person but the other Naruto make the same hand sign and disappear in a small cloud of smoke, when they emerge, each of them has transformed to make a replica of someone in our group. The other Naruto walks up with his hands behind his head, looking quite pleased with himself. "Our group is going to leave first on a direct route to the sand, and will hopefully draw off any enemies for you." This had been the plan he had conjured up, making a decoy team. Konkuro walked up to the Naruto on our side of the line that would go with us and poked at him curiously, still trying to deduce which was real.

Sakura and Hannah walk down the street toward us, Sakura is supporting Hannah barely. I wonder how she talked Sakura out of the wheel chair… They both look surprised by the look-a-likes.

"Ok, who is that?" Sakura asks cautiously as she points to herself, or well her other self.

"It is I Sakura, my flower! Do not worry I will do your greatness justice!" The tone and choice of words revile it to be Rock Lee. Sakura must realize this too, because her face drops and she suddenly looks ill. Konkuro is shaking his head trying not to laugh…

Hannah leaves the support of the shocked Sakura and moves, as normally as she can, to stand in between my sister and I. She looks nervous and looks up at me then at Temari. Temari gives her a small cocky smile and Hannah returns it with her usual kind smile.

"Well it's about time." Konkuro blurts out in our general direction. Hannah gives him a confused look. "That silly smile you _always _wear, we haven't seen it in a while." At this Hannah brings the smile back to her face. Just then the Hokage approaches.

"Alright, not get it together, we don't have all day. Separate into your groups." All of the fake group move over to the left and my group stays to the right. "Good, now you all should know the plan, Sai," She spoke in the direction of the impersonation of me. That was a bit of an ironic choice… "You will lead this group strait to the Sand border. While the Kazakage," She turned to address me now. "Will lead his team along a longer route. Hopefully this will allow the Kazakage and Temari to get Hannah to the Sand village without incident. All right, take off Sai." At his Hokage's command Sai leads the mimicking group away instantly. Now just our real group remains. "Good luck Hannah." The Hokage says before turning and moving back down the street.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm ready to get home." Konkuro yawns.

"Before we leave," Temari moves away from the wall she was leaning on and goes up to Hannah. "This is for you." My sister pulls out a ninja headband with our villages symbol on it. She holds it out to Hannah, but she doesn't move to retrieve it. She is hesitant.

Hey eyes wonder to look at each of the reassuring faces around her. Another moment passes before she reaches out and holds the metal plate in her hand. She looks it over for a minute before Temari retrieves it and ties it around Hannah's right arm to mirror the leaf one on the left. Finally, after everything she has been through, Hannah steps outside the walls of the Leaf village to make history. To face greater fears and fight harder battles. But she wouldn't face them alone.

"Sir!" The small cloud of smoke that accompanied each of my creations alerted me as much as his greeting. "Sir, the Kazakage has left Konoha with an escort. They sent a decoy group ahead. What are your orders?" What a joke, thinking they could send mere imitations to draw off my clones. They had no idea there true powers, there had been no reason to revile them yet. The dark windowless room was lit only by a single lamp in the center of the space.

"Let them be, we will take the Kazakage when we see fit. We are not so desperate to attack in a time and place they anticipate."

"Sir…" The clone addressed me with caution in his voice, sure to deliver bad news. "The girl,"

"Speak! What of her?"

"She has committed to the Sand village. And has declared herself a shinobi of both nations…" The hate fostering within me grew with this news. This girl, this insignificant child thought she could make such a decision without consequences. She would fall, publicly, so no one would question his power.

"Bad news brother?" The dark figure moved into the dim light. His expression was mocking. "It seems your plan to break the villages alliances has backfired… All it is you seem to have accomplished is bring them closer. That Kazakage, he will fight for the girl." He laughed at his statement. If I didn't know it would injure me equally, I would have taken out my anger on him. So instead my frustration takes form and I take out the clone that brought the news. "Oh so rash…"

"Shut up! If you had completed the jutsu to take out the Kazakage in time, we would have ended it on that island! Now our target has changed and all of your work is worthless to me!"

"Patience my brother… You will still have need for my jutsu, as I said, the Kazakage has grown fond of the girl. He will keep her close, and if we wish to kill her it will surely mean a fight with him. My jutsu will make this simple. But ninjutsu of such a high caliber takes time, you chose to target Gaara knowing my jutsu was just in the first stages of development."

"I attacked the island because it was the right time, we would have succeeded if the Leaf ninja hadn't accompanied them!"

"That may be, but now your target will surely have the protection of both nations you will have to plan for that."

"Yes, your jutsu, we will wait to advance until it is complete. How long?"

My brother shrugged, seemingly unbothered. "Hard to tell, could be months… It is hard to test a jutsu aimed at one person if the person isn't available to test on."

"You have all the clones you want to test on." I sneer.

"Ha! The clones may be Gaara, but I need Gaara of the Desert. The clones cannot use his sand. If I am to create a technique to bring him to his knees it will take time. And if I use it on him before it is perfected he will see his weakness and correct it."

I thought a moment of his words; the jutsu would rend Gaara useless for as long as we choose, it was worth the wait. It angered me that while I was waiting that girl would be running around spreading the image that the nations were at peace. Peace… I would not allow the nations to enjoy the illusion much longer.

That is the end of Part 1. I won't start posting part 2 until I have several chapters written so I can post chapters regularly and write casually. Let me know what you thought of Part 1! Thanks for reading!

~Gaarafan12


	18. Chapter 18

Hey guys! If anyone is reading this I genuinely thank you for taking the time to read this story! I know it is insanely long, and that's because I thought up this idea and started writing it down without ever intending for anyone to read it, so I made it for me, and I love reading lol.

This story is so long, I decided to put it into separate parts! This is the end of Part I, to get Part Two, click on my profile and you can find it there, I've only written these two so you won't have to sort through any search results!

The story has a ton more after that second chapter in Part II, but I haven't had any response at all there. I didn't see any point in taking all the time to edit and upload all of it if no one cared to read it. But it is there!

So if anyone actually reads all of my story and wants to know what happens next, there are a couple of things you can do to let me know! Either write a review on any of these chapters (visitors can do this too without an account), OR send me a Private Message, OR make your way to my profile and vote in the poll at the top of the page! ^_^

Thanks again! And have an awesome day! :3


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